Knittin' Busy

Mission: Baby Blanket

2007-08-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

So tonight my mom brings me a bag of Caron Simply Soft and tells me she needs a baby afghan for a baby shower. OK. By the way, she needs it by the 8th. Holy crap! What is today? The 30th. That gives me 8 days (did I mention I'm working double shifts almost every day?) I can do this.
Ravelry has already been a huge help to me. I haven't filled in a ton of stuff in the notebook section, but after my mom left, Ravelry was the first place I looked for a pattern that would be super quick. Bingo! The Bubbles Baby Blanket. For anyone who still can't get into Ravelry, you can find the pattern here. This should be quick enough to finish on time and a gorgeous blanket to boot. Wish me luck.

I'm Almost In!

2007-08-18T00:29:00.000-05:00

There are only 309 people left ahead of me in the Ravelry invitation queue. Only 309! I can't wait to get in, everyone is buzzing about Ravelry, and so far everything I've heard is good. I can't wait to see what it looks like and play with all the great features I keep hearing about. The Notebook previews look the most interesting to me, and the whole thing looks like one big community resource and place to show off. Love it, and can't wait for that invite!

What's Up Y'All?!

2007-08-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

Wow, is it good to be connected to the Internet again. I've missed the online craft community while I was computer-less for the last two months or so. A lot has happened around here that I've missed sharing with you, too. The big news is, we finally moved! Out of our crappy housing apartment to a crappy trailer, but hey, it's a step up, right? I think so. The Munchkins, Boyfriend and I have really enjoyed living here thus far, and I think we are finally good and settled in. I'm sure there will be plenty to share about the new place later on.

After we got everything moved I had to have new wiring ran for the cable DSL, and then the computer took a visit to the fix-it guy. It is in SOOOO much better shape now. And I'm back! I'm so excited to be able to see what everyone has been up to. Drop by and let me know what you've been up to for the last two months, I'd love to catch up with everyone!

Here's a little something I thought was interesting:

Your Career Type: Artistic

You are expressive, original, and independent.

Your talents lie in your artistic abilities: creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art.

You would make an excellent:

Actor - Art Teacher - Book Editor

Clothes Designer - Comedian - Composer

Dancer - DJ - Graphic Designer

Illustrator - Musician - Sculptor

The worst career options for your are conventional careers, like bank teller or secretary.

What's Your Ideal Career?

I'll be back tomorrow with more of what I've been up to while I was gone.

Yay Me!

2007-06-18T20:06:00.000-05:00

I won a prize! How cool is that? Know what's even better? It's exactly the prize I had my eye on, a beautiful knitting journal by Lain. I won it from Holly as part of Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive. So awesome.

I was never able to post pics of the blankies that I sent, but Holly took great pictures of them and posted them here. Check 'em out. Thanks so much, Holly, for running a great pet drive and for the awesome prize!

Today

2007-06-17T13:33:00.000-05:00

Here's what I have planned for the rest of the day:

The couch, some crafty stuff, and hanging out with my dad for a little while. Happy Father's Day, Daddy, and to all the daddy's out there!

I've Gone Scan Crazy!

2007-06-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

The Fire Blanket (almost done!):

The doll afghan:

My latest bracelet, which isn't done but I already sold today:

And the Munchkins' Ratatouille artwork:

(Sort of) A Picture, Yay!

2007-06-11T14:38:00.001-05:00

I've rediscovered a craft that I dabbled in while in high school, and spent lots of time over the weekend practicing. I forgot how much fun (and addicting) making hemp jewelry can be. Since I'm just practicing, and I'm notoriously cheap, I'm using some stash Size 10 crochet thread as "hemp" and seed beeds. The bracelets I've started so far look decent, and the latest is perfect for Project Spectrum.

That's it on the left. It's for the boyfriend, and I like how it's turning out. The one on the right is another one for practice, and it matches a pair of earrings that I made myself last week.

The next bracelet I have planned will work well for Project Spectrum, too. Black with shiny colored beads, and maybe some earrings to match that one as well. After the computer goes to the computer doctor and comes back, I'll scan that bracelet.

I'm so excited that I figured out a way to add some visual interest around here. I had forgotten all about my scanner. Yay for (sort-of) pictures!

Yuck.

2007-06-07T13:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry, that's the best title I could come up with for this post. Yesterday was one of those days that just plain sucked. Every time I turned around it felt like someone or something was there to kick me. And the worst of it is, the "financial upswing" I was hoping we were coming into is now nonexistent. Ouch. No new digi camera anytime soon.

I stayed up way too late working on the doll aghan for a little therapy session, so I'm way tired, but I feel a little better. The afghan is almost done and it looks quite cute, even if I was half asleep when I got towards the end. Oh well, all I can do is hope for a better day today.

Summer Fun

2007-06-05T23:02:00.000-05:00

I haven't made it any farther on that same old Fire Blanket, but for good reason. Yesterday, a girlfriend and I loaded the Munchkins and her little ones all up in her good old Jeep, and took off for the beach. Completely spontaneous, so much fun. The Munchkins loved playing in the water, even though it was still quite cold, and my friend E and I sat on a picnic bench with a cooler full of food and cold soda, just kicking back in the summer sun. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and we're definitely planning more day trips like this to happen on a regular basis. Summer is definitely here.

I also started another project. I've been following along with several blogger's latest obssession with doll quilts, and I believe I've caught the bug. I started a crocheted doll afghan with leftovers from the CCCD blankies, and I really like it so far. Doll afghans are small by nature, therefore perfect for summer crocheting, in my opinion. We'll just see how far I can go with this new inspiration.

Pictureless Progress

2007-06-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

I've been working on nothing but the Fire Blanket since I sent off the pet blankies to Holly, and my efforts are about to pay off. I'm 2/3 of the way done joining all the strips together, and then I plan to add a small border that wasn't included in the pattern instructions. WooHoo! Almost to the finish line! I absolutely HATE sewing squares or strips together, so I finally broke down and learned the Flat Braid joining method. Love it, love it, love it. It's not a whole lot faster than whipstitching, but it sure is less of a pain in the a**. And I'm crazy about the way it looks: a nice, flat, pretty little braid between strips instead of my uneven sewing. Looks good on the front and the back. I'm very pleased with how this blanket is coming together.

On the financial front, we just might be on the upswing around here, so a digital camera should be coming soon. I would love to have it in time to post pics of the FB as soon as it's done, but I'm not about to slow down on the blanket to wait for the camera. So there will be pictures, but probably not right away. For now, I'm going to clean up the house so that I can focus on joining strips when I get home from work. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Grrrrr!

2007-05-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

Not having a digital camera is really starting to frustrate me. Bad. I've made so many things in the last couple of weeks that I would LOVE to show off, but I can't! I would LOVE to put a little collage here of all the yellow, pink, and green things I made for the April/May Project Spectrum color triad, but I can't. And the Munchkins are looking so cute these days, but I can't show them off, either. Grrrrr. It may be a while before regular pictures are seen around here again, because things are tight, baby, but I have a couple of ideas to spice this little old blog up. Maybe. Just maybe.

I NEED To Be Crafty

2007-05-29T22:06:00.000-05:00

Have you ever sat down at the end of a long, curve-ball throwing, stressful day and just wanted to make something? That's how I feel right now. This day has seemed to be the day that just wouldn't quit throwing punches. Now that the Munchkins are in bed sleeping, I should probably do the same. But all I really want to do is sit down and crochet something, or get out the sewing machine.

I don't know if it's the same for everyone (it is for some), but being crafty is super therapeutic for me. Working even just a few stitches of an afghan at the end of the evening makes me feel like I did something productive, even if I ran circles around myself for the rest of the day. And today, I definitely "chased my own tail" quite a bit. So I'm off to work on the Fire Blanket. It's almost done, too. Big difference from when I first posted about it. Maybe I can make some real progress, and that will clear my mind so that I can sleep tonight instead of stressing, tossing, and turning.

Do the rest of you do this too, or is it just me? Do you turn to your crafty projects at the end of the day for de-stressing? I know that I can't possibly be the only one. Tell me what you do at the end of the day to de-stress, I want to hear what everyone else thinks.

Mission Accomplished!

2007-05-27T19:11:00.000-05:00

My seven blankies for Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive are finally done. Finished, washed, dried, packed up in a box, and ready to ship to Holly in California first thing Tuesday morning. I'm so excited to be done, but kind of sad that the drive is over, too. Is that weird? I can't wait for Holly to open up the box.

*Edited to add* I did take pictures of everything, but they are on a disposable camera (stupid broken digital cameras!). As soon as I get the film back I will scan everything and there will be more pictures than you'll be able to stand.

Something to Share

2007-05-20T02:20:00.000-05:00

I've really been getting back into my sewing, so I've been checking out a lot of sewing sites and blogs. While I've been browsing, I came across this cool site: craftideas.info. Be sure to check out the fabric and sewing section, there are lots of great ideas! Just thought I would pass this one along.

Working Against a (Sort-of) Deadline

2007-05-19T00:06:00.000-05:00

I've spent all of my evening since the Munchkins were tucked in working on my sixth (!) blanket for CCCD. It's a 36 x 36 sewn blankie with double quilt batting, made from heavy fabric. It will be so warm! I didn't quite finish it up, cuz I'm tired, and it's about time for bed. I'll go back to it tomorrow.

I'm really excited that I passed my blankie goal. I wanted to make 5 to send out to Holly, and now I'm working on my sixth! Yay! I'm going to have to stop soon, or else I'll be paying out the rear for express quickie shipping to California. They will have to go out soon.

I wonder which charity project I will take on next now that this one is almost over?

A Picture!

2007-05-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

No new camera yet, but I plan on buying one in the next week or so as a late Mother's Day/early birthday present for myself. The camera phone pics thingie didn't work out either. So all I have to show is the last pic I got out of my old crappy camera. It's the first blankie I finished for CCCD, and I hate to part with it, but it will soon be on it's way to California.

I may be biased, but I think it's gorgeous. It was cheap to make, too. Under 3 rolls of SuperSaver, so that's less than seven bucks! I've finished 4 more blankies (3 of them crocheted, 1 sewn), but I don't know if I will have the camera in time to take pics of those before I absolutely have to send them off. Fingers crossed!

No Pics=Boring

2007-05-06T21:36:00.000-05:00

I hate writing posts without pictures. Really, I do. That's probably the main reason that I haven't been blogging much lately. See, when I finally got batteries for the camera, I managed to get two decent pictures out of it, and then it konked out all together. So, no more camera for now. But I may have found a way to transfer my camera phone pictures to the Internet, so hopefully the pictures will be back soon. (I wanted a new digital camera, anyway.)

As for the two pictures that I did get before the camera crapped out, they're up on my Flikr account. There is blog post coming about those soon, very soon.

Even though I have no real proof to back this up, I can say that I have been VERY crafty lately. I reconstructed some of my old clothes, and I'm cranking out blankies for CCCD. The deadline is less than a month away, y'all. I can't wait to show you all this stuff, I've got to go figure out this cell phone/web pictures thingie.

Good News and Bad News

2007-04-25T00:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's the bad news first: I lost the batteries I bought for the camera, so still no pictures (I'm always doing silly things like that!).

The good news: I finally finished my first pet blankie to send to Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive. I still have another that is almost done, and one that is about half-way. The deadline is only a little more than a month away, so I have to get moving to reach my personal goal of five blankets. I want to squeeze in a couple of toys if possible, too.

I promise that as soon as I find those batteries (or buy more) I will take pics of all these unseen projects. No matter how bad the lighting is. Really, I mean it.

Foiled Again!

2007-04-17T08:53:00.000-05:00

Today I was going to post a pic of my favorite of the five projects. It's beautiful and sunny outside, and the lighting in my upstairs bedroom was perfect. So I ran downstairs, grabbed the camera, turned it on, and......
the battery light flashed snidely at me and the camera shut off. No battery power. Well, crap.

It's Sort of an Obsession

2007-04-15T16:01:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time lately hiding behind a crochet project, drowning my sorrows (!) (he, he) in thousands of tiny stitches. Hiding in stitches gives you lots of time to think, and I've been thinking quite a bit about my habits as a crocheter. For instance, my secret love of Red Heart Super Saver yarn.

In my last post I mentioned that I was working on five different crocheted and knitted projects. All five are made primarily from Red Heart yarn, and four of those are made from SS. One is Red Heart Baby Clouds.

I know that there are lots of yarn snobs out there, knitters and crocheters who wouldn't dream of making something with a cheap acrylic yarn like Red Heart. I, however, am the complete opposite. I love Super Saver so much for those exact reasons. It's cheap, it's acrylic so I can throw it in the washer and dryer, there are a ton of colors, it's easily available. I don't have a lot of money to spend on yarn, people. I wish that I could buy fancy-schmancy yarn from fabulous yarn stores and web sites, but the truth is, I just can't afford it. I have to put clothes on the Munchkins' back, you know. So until I win the lottery or land some sort of dream job, I am perfectly happy playing with the gazillion color combos I can make with good old Super Saver.

I know I'm starting to sound like one hell of an advertisement. But I'm not getting paid, I'm not getting free yarn (although that would be great). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've come to the conclusion that Red Heart Super Saver is kinda like my own super-cheap therapy. I hide behind my little RHSS stitches and ignore all the things I don't want to deal with. I can waste hours at a time picking out different color combinations from the gigantic bin of SS stashed in my closet. Maybe it's not the best way to go about things, but it's working for me right now.

OK, that's the end of my free love for the Red Heart company. I promise that when I have good light, I will take more pics of all these projects I've been hiding behind.

Dang It!

2007-04-11T21:49:00.000-05:00

I seem to have developed a major case of crafty startitis (again). I currently have 5 projects in constant rotation, and so many more on the sidelines. Yet I keep finding more things that I want to make! Shoot.

More on one of my current projects tomorrow.

On Today's Agenda

2007-04-09T15:36:00.000-05:00

- The Boyfriend pillow

- The Fire blanket

- SO MUCH cleaning!

Anything to Please the Munchkins

2007-04-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

If Munchkin #1 ever comes across this Spiderman blanket, I am in BIG BIG trouble. She knows everything there is to know about Spiderman that there is to know, and she's only 4! If she sees the pic of that blanket she will know exactly what it is and probably demand her own Spidey blankie on the spot.

Oops, I think it's too late. I just added the Spiderman blankie to my list of to-dos for Christmas. It never hurts to start early, right?

(Link via Craft: Magazine)

Been Up To......

2007-04-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

This is what I've been working on all week:

This is what I did last night:

This is what I made today:

I modified a pattern for a headband that I found at Happy Yellow House. I omitted the border and did six less rows overall to make it fit properly, and it's soft and comfy. Been wearing the headband since I finished it, before the kids came home from school. Quick, easy, and cute!

March UFO Challenge

2007-04-01T16:15:00.001-05:00

OK, I'll admit it. I never even chose a project for the UFO challenge for March. What can I say, it was a hell of a month and the challenge was honestly the farthest thing from my mind. So I offer up a little something I did do, that I'm counting for this month just because I can.

I spent a lot of time this month hiding in my closet with my stash. While I was there, I actually tidied up a bit. I took a bunch of tangled-up yarn and half-started projects and rolled them up into pretty little balls of yarn. Much easier to go through now. The pic represents only a small portion of the untangling and organizing that I have started. I'm sad to say that the whole process is not over, but has only just begun. (I'm still counting it for the March challenge, though. I'm just saying.)

1200 HDCs

2007-03-27T18:03:00.001-05:00

1200 perfect little HDCs=The start of something beautiful.

Still At It

2007-03-26T14:12:00.001-05:00

I'm still chug, chug, chugging along over here.

I have this friend who likes to watch me crochet. Whenever I pick up my hook around him, I'll catch him staring intently at my hands. We always laugh about it, and he says that he's just amazed at the way my hands "fly". I love it when he watches me crochet, it makes me feel interesting.

Hello Again

2007-03-18T20:26:00.000-05:00

I apologize for my absence over the last couple of weeks. Things here at Chez Busy have been rather, well, chaotic over the last little while. Chaotic, painful, and difficult. There are a lot of things that have been going on that I just don't feel ready to talk about here, not right now. There have been several injuries, including a shoulder infection that prevented me from crafting at all. Most recent is a wicked eye injurie. I have been trudging through the best I can, and thinking of y'all even though I haven't really spent any time with my computer at all.

I am happy to report that I finished the baby socks in time for my February UFO project, and there are pics to prove it, I'm just not up to messing with them right now. And I'm also working on some other stuff now. I'm going to try to update here again soon, and I miss you all. I will be back.

Lovin' the Little Things

2007-02-27T17:22:00.000-06:00

Finally, a progress picture of the log cabin blanket. It's coming along well, although it's starting to feel a little slow now that it's getting bigger. I've set it aside in favor of working on a couple of other things. I will have to come back to it soon, though, because I'm not sure of the final date for Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive.

I know that most people say that ripping out an old project is strangely liberating, but I would have to say that I didn't feel much of anything while sending these socks to the frog pond. I just didn't like them anymore. I'm really feeling these baby socks, though. I like the stripes better in small scale. This is the third or fourth pair I've made with Moda Dea Sassy Stripes, and I think the yarn is well-suited to the pattern. I've loved every pair.

I'm off to work on the baby socks now so that I can have them done by tomorrow. I will not default, I will not default, I will not default.

UFO Update

2007-02-26T18:48:00.000-06:00

Remember these?

They are my new UFO challenge project for February. Let's face it, the Boyfriend pillow is not going to be done in the next two days. I don't want to default on the challenge, so I'm switching to these socks. I'm not really going to finish them, either, I'm going to rip them out. And make cute little baby socks out of them. I know I can finish those by the 28th. My friend is due in a very short time, and I want to get something done before the baby arrives. I'm not really in love with these socks anymore, so rippit, rippit it is! I probably wouldn't have finished them, anyway.

I have to mention a big Happy Birthday to my Daddy. My sister took us all out for a very nice lunch, and I was able to stop by JoAnn's and get the part for the sewing machine. Yay, bonus! Anyway, my dad says that he's 39 and holding this year. We got a big kick out of that over lunch. Sure, Dad. We all believe you. Age is really just a number, anyway. We love you no matter how old you are!

2007 Softie Awards

2007-02-22T09:47:00.000-06:00

Have y'all been following the 2007 Softie Awards like I have? All the stuffed critters and other softies are sooo cute!

My favorite is Manny the Mantis, by Cynic the Lamb. Check out her blog, Knotty Bits, for more shots of Manny.

Munchkin 1 says that Mikey the Donkey is her favorite. I think he's pretty darn cute, too. We also like Gus and, of course, Captain Jack.

Check out all the softies and tell me who YOUR favorites are!

Morning Quickie

2007-02-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

I just have a couple of minutes this morning so I'm going to put up a couple links to some things that have caught my eye in the last couple of days.

I received an e-mail yesterday from MomsRising.org (which I unfortunately deleted) asking me to sign a petition related to PBS. I get these e-mails all of the time, but I signed this particular petition to stop PBS funding cuts. The educational programs on PBS are invaluable to our children. I can't find a link to this particular petition now, but if you are interested in this issue, sign up at MomsRising.org, I'm sure that you will get the same e-mail that I did. It's a wonderful organization.
I read about the case of Julie Amero on Scout's Swag. Julie is a substitue teacher from Connecticut who has been convicted of four felony counts of "injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children," due to an incident with pornographic pop-up ads on a school computer. She's facing 40 years. Go here to read more about Julie Amero's case, and go here to donate to her defense fund. I believe the choice to drop the charges is an obvious one.
The Yarn Harlot has proposed a grand show of knitting power. I soooo want to go to one of the stops on this tour!

That's it for now. I'm off to work, it's absolutely gorgoeous here (almost 60 degrees F) and I plan to enjoy spending the day outside.

Snow!

2007-02-17T23:39:00.001-06:00

Today was a great day to start on my little log cabin experiment. It snowed all night last night and most of today. Here are my meager beginnings:

Isn't the snow pretty? This is probably the best Project Spectrum-related pic I've taken yet, even though the blue of the square doesn't look blue, exactly. Oh well, the snow is still pretty, and very, very white.

I'm almost done with the center square of the log cabin, and I'll be ready to pick up stitches along the side by morning. I'm nervous, so we'll see how it goes.

Setting Forth

2007-02-16T09:58:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try something new. I've recently become quite intrigued by the log cabin blankets ala Mason Dixon Knitting that I've been seeing all over the 'Net. We all know that I'm not the best knitter in the world, and to me, a log cabin seems like a very big challenge. But I'm also very stubborn, and how much damage can I possibly do with some circular needles and old acrylic yarn?

I'll be using the formula I found over at January One for my little experiment, as I have not acquired the Mason Dixon Knitting book just yet. (Hopefully that will happen soon.) And while I'm at it, I just have to mention that I love how the header at the top of the January One page changes every time you visit. How does she do that?

XOXO

2007-02-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

Sorry y'all no crazy Valentines stories or tales of past loves here today. Just:

Happy Valentines Day to all!

5 Things

2007-02-13T15:14:00.001-06:00

1) No, the computer is not broken again. I just haven't felt like blogging, to be honest. The Munchkins and I are all battling Round 2 of this year's SuperCold. When I feel crappy, I would much rather crochet than type. To that effect, I've gotten quite a bit of crocheting done. Other than that, not much is getting done around here.

2)The Bears poncho. I still haven't taken pictures of that, have I? (I haven't put the "C" on, either.) To tide you over, I give you this, taken a couple of days before the big game:

I will get around to taking pics of the finished project, I swear. I might wait until I attach that "C", though.

3)I've finally spent some time sewing on my January UFO Challenge project. It's now my project for February, but I plan on squeezing in another little something for the challenge towards the end of the month.

I'm almost finished with both sides now. It's just so much sewing!

4)

I'm working on some pet blankies to send over to HollYarns for Cyrano's Creature Comforts Drive. I have to admit, I was first drawn in by the gorgeous prizes, but I did resolve to craft more for charity this year. So, it's the best of both worlds. A friend from work gifted me with a shopping bag full of acrylic and fur yarns last week, and I've already finished a 16x16 blankie out of some of the acrylic for one lucky homeless animal. I'll be making more and sending them her way.

5) Here's a little sneak peek of something yummy that I'm working on for someone special:

Can you guess what it is?

Super? Bowl

2007-02-05T09:27:00.000-06:00

The Bears lost. That sucks. I really did not want to see the Colts win, as they beat my team. Does anyone else share my opinion that Rex Groessman singlehandedly gave the Superbowl to the Colts? I hope they fire him today.

(This will not stop me from posting pics of the finished Bears poncho. I just need some good light to take the pictures.)

Damn Computer

2007-02-01T10:20:00.000-06:00

Well, the computer finally went. Lucky me, it was an easy fix. Just had to replace the power source box, and it cost under 100 bucks, so cheap, too. No more 5-day computer outages, yay!

So I'm back now, and I'll try to post a pic of the Bears poncho later tonight. It's looking really good.

Distraction II

2007-01-26T17:38:00.000-06:00

I now have something new to avoid the UFO challenge/pillow project with. A friend just ordered a Chicago Bears poncho, which she really wants to wear for the Superbowl. And she paid in advance, in full. I can't let her down! I'm going to have to bust arse to finish in 9 days (8, really), but I can do it. Now I just have to get started. The yarn will be here any minute, so I'm going to jump right in. Sorry, Boyfriend's pillow! You will just have to wait.

Distraction

2007-01-25T23:15:00.000-06:00

I've been procrastinating on my UFO challenge project. Here's why:

I'm calling it the Fire Blanket, and I'm absolutely in love with it.

I'm a Joiner

2007-01-21T19:45:00.000-06:00

I've joined another KAL, the UFO challenge. The basic concept is, you pick a UFO out of your pile each month, and then try your hardest to finish it by the end of the month. I have a whole Rubbermaid tub full of things that I got tired of working on, so this one is perfect for me. And I'm getting so good at these KAL things, I already picked out my challenge project for January:

It's the pillow that I started for the Boyfriend for a Christmas gift. Obviously, I didn't finish in time. It's basically a bunch of little granny squares sewn into an "E", and I made enough to put E's on both sides, but I only got one side even close to done. I have about 6 or 7 spots to sew up on side 1, and the squares in the pic will become side 2. After the sewing of the squares is done, I'll crochet a border around each side, sew the two sides together, and pop a pillow form in. I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to finish by January 31. I'm starting a little late, but it gives me a goal to shoot for.

I think that it will be easy to incorporate the UFO challenge with Lolly's Project Spectrum throughout the year. I'm sure I have plenty of different-colored UFO's in that Rubbermaid tub, and I plan on busting through that whole tub this year. For now, I'm off to work on Boyfriend's pillow.

We're Alive (but Not Quite Kicking)

2007-01-19T10:18:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I posted but I have plenty of excuses:

I am STILL sick, as are both of the Munchkins. This stuffy head/chest cold stuff really sucks!
I think my new digital camera is broke, or maybe just possessed. It keeps eating my pictures!
The computer was also being a little crazy for a couple of days, so I am completely behind on blogs, and especially this blog.
Sometimes I'm just a little lazy. Hey, it happens.

I've been working on lots of little projects in the absence of the computer. I've made several more preemie hats and a couple of can coozies. I'm finishing up a purse for a friend, too, and last night I started mile-a-minute afghan, which I may continue or I may rip back on. I have a couple of gift projects planned that need to be finished by the end of the month, but they are small so it should be no problem.

There is plenty going on under the surface here at Chez Busy, but I don't know if I'll be able to show pics for a while or not. I'll do my best to whip that possessed camera into submission, so we'll just see how it goes.

Uuuggghhhhh.......

2007-01-12T11:37:00.000-06:00

It's another day off from work due to car trouble. I'm stuck at home, losing out on good money. I hate that. And to top it off, I've caught a chest cold from the Munchkins and feel just plain awful. Breathing takes effort, and that's not cool at all.

There's not much going on around here except a lot of coughing, whining, and being tired while waiting on the car to get fixed. Exciting, huh?

(Maybe tomorrow I'll have something good to post about.)

DPN Practice

2007-01-11T09:44:00.000-06:00

(Something about that title just sounded funny to me. OH! We're off to DPN practice! Anyway.)

Lolly posted today about Someday Projects, which got me to thinking all over again about how I want to be able to knit socks for Socktoberfest 2007. (Let's not talk about 2006's unfinished crochet socks. I still need more yarn, people!) I've practiced knitting a little on the DPN's, but it's been a while and I really should pick them up again.

Right now I'm obsessed with making the little preemie hats. I can't seem to put them down. I think I've made at least one a day for the past week now, and I've almost filled a gallon-size zipper baggie. Yay, me! But I need some variation, something to mix it up a little before I get bored. So, I want to knit some preemie hats. This will serve double-duty: I'll be practicing on the DPN's, and making more hats. Perfect. Now I just need to find a pattern. Anyone have any suggestions?

A Little Down Time

2007-01-08T15:11:00.000-06:00

I'm smackdab in the middle of a much-needed three day break from work, and I couldn't be happier about it. Last night was our "company" Christmas party, which was a great way to kick off my mini-vacation. Where I work, we all work very hard, but we know how to party when it's time. I'm not posting pics, because "What happens at the Christmas party, stays at the Christmas party!" (Te hee hee!) It was a good time.

Today and tomorrow I'm just hanging out with the Munchkins, cleaning the house a little, and trying to squeeze in some crocheting. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well on my list. I hope that's an indicator that the rest of the year will be just as good!

An Add-On

2007-01-06T13:09:00.000-06:00

I've thought of another resolution to add to my 2007 list: Crochet and knit more for charity. I know what you're thinking. What did she make for charity in 2006? Well, I have photographic evidence that I did spend a small amount of time making charity items.

These are some of the hats I made over the last several months of the year, with the intent of sending them to a preemie unit at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. I'm not sure if that is where the hats will actually end up, but they most definitely won't fit anyone but preemie babies. Some of the hats are so small! Unfortunately, I'm sure there are babies out there who are the perfect size for those tiny little hats.

The pattern comes from somewhere on the God's Tiny Angels site via a link from Sue at Good Yarns. They are so quick and easy, and can be varied in several different ways to make them each unique. A perfect little to project to work on in between other projects for a break. I've already made a few more since the start of the New Year, in different yarn.

I also plan to donate items to a few larger movements, such as the Red Scarf Project or the Dulaan Project. I'm just not sure which ones or when, but it will definitely happen this year. It makes me feel so good to create for others, so why not spread that love all over the country, or even the world?

Everything is Coming Up Roses

2007-01-03T10:19:00.001-06:00

2007 is off to a wonderful start. I spent all of New Years Day with the Munchkins, and then Boyfriend suprised me with these yesterday:

He sent them to work, but I got off early yesterday, so one of my friends brought them by when she got off work. They are soooo pretty, and they make me smile every time I walk by them. :)

My creativity has come back full force in the last couple of days. (I always lose enthusiam directly after Christmas. I need a break after all of the gift-knitting.) I've made a couple of coozies (is that how you spell that?) and I have an idea floating around in my head that I plan to translate to yarn very, very soon. I have several projects lined up, some with gift-y deadlines, so I better get my butt in gear.

I also have a long, warm bubble bath planned for, well, right now. I'm off to soak in some bubbly goodness!

Help!

2007-01-01T13:48:00.000-06:00

OK, someone help me, please. Ever since I switched to the new beta version of Blogger, I've been trying to figure out how to put the buttons back in my sidebar. I just can't figure it out. Isn't this new template thingie supposed to be easier? Help!!!!!

*Edited* I really want to start the year off with my blog looking pretty and fresh. I can't get buttons to show in my link list, just the name. How do I switch from the name to the button? I just think the buttons look so much nicer over there, they dress up the whole blog somehow.

New Years Goal List

2006-12-30T10:52:00.000-06:00

2007 is upon us. Many people are making lists of their resolutions, so I thought I would put my list out there, too. I prefer to call them "goals" rather than "resolutions", because I think it makes them stay fresh in my mind throughout the year. My list isn't long, but I think I put down all of the goals that I feel strongly about going in to the New Year. I hope I can look back one year from now and say that I accomplished everything that I set out to. And if I don't, it's something to keep working toward. So here's my list of to-do's for 2007:

Spend as much time with the Munchkins as I possibly can.
Work with the Munchkins more on things like the ABC's, counting, colors, shapes, and other preschool-type learning stuff. Munchkin #1 will most definitely start HeadStart in the fall, and I want her to be ready. Munchkin #2 won't be far behind!
Take more time to appreciate the little things, those moments of my life which I will never be able to experience the same way twice, but will draw so much happiness from. A hug from one of the Munchkins, a cup of coffee with a friend. Sometimes I'm so caught up in the whirlwind of life that I forget to appreciate those little moments that make life worth living. I want to slow down a bit, and enjoy!
Tell the Munchkins I love them more often. Give more hugs and more kisses.
Pay down the debt I was left with after the divorce. Even if I can't pay the whole mess of it off this year, I can put a huge dent in it. The amount is easily manageable, by most standards, so a little will go a long way in this case.
Save a little money for an emergency fund, and hopefully someday, the down-payment on a new car.
Take a time-out for myself more often. A hot bubble bath, paint my nails, crochet in a quiet room for 10 minutes, have a cup of coffee and stare out the window in the morning. Anything to relax and refresh me.
Always be grateful for how blessed the Munchkins and I truly are. Friends, family, good health, a warm home, and best of all each other. We have come so far in the last couple of years. Always be grateful.

That's it. That's my list for 2007. The Munchkins and I wish everyone a safe, fun, and happy New Year, and hope that you all feel as blessed as we do throughout 2007.

What the ....?

2006-12-28T10:28:00.000-06:00

My Fortune Cookie told me:
Tomorrow will be an excellent day for putting Slinkies on an escalator.
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Ummm, yeah. Slinkies. On an escalator. Ok, I'll get right on that. (No, I won't.)

Family

2006-12-27T09:59:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas here at chez Busy. The day was filled with family and friends coming and going, food, presents, and all-around holiday cheer. The Munchkins and I were extremely blessed this year, in a gift-y sense and in a love of our family-sense.

This is the Munchkins with my sister, Tiff. They are wearing their new pj's from Santa. Munchkin #1 is in love with Spiderman, and Munchkin #2 prefers Dora, as you can see. They still have not stopped playing with their new toys, and we haven't even opened them all yet. I might put some stuff away to pull out later on in the year, when they are getting bored with the toys they are playing with now.

As for some of the gifts that I gave:

Here is my mom on the left, and my aunt on the right, showing off their matching Serafina shawls. If I had went through with my whole contest idea, the purple Serafina on the right would have been the answer for Mystery Project #2. They both loved their shawls, and my mom wore hers for the rest of the day. Success!

I'll post more photos of the gifts that I made as I get better pics. Some of our pictures were digital, but the majority were taken with disposable cameras. Which reminds me, my wonderful boyfriend splurged on a new digital camera for me! So now you can expect some better pics around here! Thanks, baby!

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T16:59:00.000-06:00

I'm done! Yay! Everything is wrapped, decorated, groceries are bought, and I got pictures taken of everything I wanted to take pictures of. Ahhhhh, what a relief to be done and be able to finally relax. Since it's Christmas Eve, I thought I'd share my meager decorations. I know in the picture my tree looks very crooked, but it's really just the angle of the photo. And yes, that is a Santa hat for the tree-topper. I didn't have anything else to use last year, so I threw the hat on top of the tree, and I guess it's kind of a tradition now. The hat says "I Believe in Santa Claus," and I really like using it for the tree-topper because it's cute and different.

Here's the wreath I made, very simple. I took forever to make the bows, though. I wanted them to look just right.

And last, our stockings and some Christmas cards we've recieved this year. Ooh, we have to get going to Christmas dinner at the boyfriends. Have to hurry! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A Little Side Project

2006-12-21T21:32:00.000-06:00

I've been busy the last couple of days finished up decking out the house for the holiday. I put my tree up weeks ago, but only half-heartedly, and it really didn't look good. I paid a visit to Wal-Mart and picked up some ribbon, new ornaments, and these super cool sequined ornaments, among other things. When I got home to do the decorating, I discovered that the sequined ornaments weren't ornaments at all! They were a garland, rolled up in a tube and disguised as ornaments. So I made them into the ornaments I wanted them to be.

Ornament Garland
Originally uploaded by lill_mama83.

This is the end of the garland I deconstructed, pre-cutting. I simply cut the loop at the end and let the seed beads fall into a bowl. (The garland is basically fishing line threaded with seed beads, sequined balls and single sequins.) I then threaded about eighteen seed beads back onto the line above the ball and tied it in a loop. Then I cut the line below the ball, dropped the beads again, and tied a knot in the line directly beneath the ball. I then repeated the whole process for each successive ball, turning them into ornaments.

The boyfriend took this picture of me while I was working on the garland-to-ornament project. It's one of my favorite pictures of myself.

Ornaments 1
Originally uploaded by lill_mama83.

Here's what the ornaments looked like when I was done. I only did four, and the rest are, well, still a garland. I draped it around the rack our stockings are hanging from, and after the holidays I'll finish cutting it up. I'll have more time then to finish them. I really like how they turned out, and they pretty much look just like the ornaments that I originally thought they were. They look very pretty on my tree! I'll share pics of my tree, the wreath I made, and some other decorations in the next couple of days. Until then, I'll be wrapping!

A Finished Present

2006-12-16T14:16:00.000-06:00

I've finally finished something I can blog about, yay! I'm pretty sure that the recipients of this Christmas present are not blog readers, so I can share it. Yet another tied fleece blanket, red with dragons on one side, plain ole black on the other. It's huge, it covers my entire bed.

Very warm, very soft, very cuddly. I know that two people will be very happy curling up under it together.

Here's a close-up so you can get a better idea of what the dragons look like. Very Asian-inspired. For anyone who is wondering, I picked up both colors of fleece at a JoAnn's sale.

Well, I guess that's one more thing checked off the Christmas to-do list!

Only 11 More Days?!

2006-12-14T15:59:00.000-06:00

Wow, time sure is flying by now that Christmas is really just around the corner. I have been SO busy! There hasn't been much blogging around here lately, because if I can manage to find the time to sit down and write a little something, I can't find the energy.

I'm pretty much finished with the holiday gift making. I have a few little somethings to work on yet, but nothing major. Oh, and I have some pillows to sew up and stuff, but the sewing machine has went crazy on me. I don't know if I'll be able to get it to cooperate with me in time to put those presents under the tree, but I'll do what I can.

My biggest concern now is getting everything wrapped up in time for Christmas morning. I have a LOT of presents to wrap! I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit, now (and the Christmas rush). Only 11 days to go!

On another note, I am going to hold off on having a contest for the Mystery Christmas Projects. I only managed to put up 3 hints, and I personally think that makes for a crappy contest. I promise I'll make up for it by having some kind of contest sometime in the new year.

Remembrance

2006-12-10T14:27:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to take a moment to express my sympathy for the James and Kati Kim family. As the mother of two small girls, this story really struck a chord with me, and I think it is so sad that the man who was trying so hard to save his family will not be reunited with them. I can't imagine the pain that the Kim family must be going through right now. There is a fundraiser planned to benefit the Kims, and gift baskets are being put together. If you would like to help, please check out one of those sites. And please take a moment to tell your family how much you love them. You may not get another chance.

A Post With a Pic (Finally)!

2006-12-07T15:22:00.001-06:00

I've been chugging away in the Christmas sweatshop, er, I mean, Christmas workshop. I'm only a little way from being done, yay! I might just make my goal of being done a week early. Then I can relax and focus on the Munchkins and having fun for the holidays. We're going to keep Christmas very casual in our family this year. No turkey-cooking for me! It would be so nice not to be stressed out over things I should be enjoying. I'll have pictures of some finished presents that I can show here soon, but until then, I have the hint for MCP #3.

Can you figure it out?

Little Pink Brain

2006-12-05T23:50:00.000-06:00

Here's a cute little something to waste time with: LikeBetter.com It's fun to watch the little brain turn pink, but what's really weird is that the brain is pretty much dead-on!

Just One of Many Opinions

2006-11-30T15:32:00.000-06:00

I came across this post at AlphaMom about breastfeeding in public today. It's very funny, check it out for the links if nothing else. Since there is virtually nothing crafty that I can talk about here due to several *SECRET* projects, I thought I would share my opinion on breastfeeding, in public and in general.

First off, I breastfed both of the Munchkins, the first for almost a year and the second for a little over six months. I think they are both much healthier little girls now than they would have been if they had started on formula right off the bat. The doctor, nurses, and WIC office all were pro-breastfeeding when I was pregnant, and all had plenty of literature to support it. I was very easily convinced, and knew long before Munchkin #1 was born that I would try my hardest to breastfeed, and if it didn't work out, we'd go to the bottle.

The first few days were very hard. The little one had a lot of trouble latching on, and I was a very nervous new mom. By the end of that first week, I was in tears on an hourly basis because I couldn't get the baby to eat. My ex called his sister, because she was the only person he knew who had breastfed, and she calmed me down tremendously. Once I was calm, the baby latched on with no trouble. From that day on, I breastfed. And I loved it. Not only was my little girl getting the best nutrition on the planet, but it was a great time to bond and be close to her. Breastfeeding Munchkin #2 was automatic, and I never had any trouble with her eating.

I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm a strong advocate for breastfeeding, so I feel for the woman kicked off the plane for refusing to cover up. It IS her right to feed her baby, and if nothing is showing, why is this so offensive? I can see asking her to cover up if she was flashing people. But if you're all the way in the back and no one can see you? I say, breastfeed away. There is nothing wrong with breastfeeding in public as long as you are discreet and considerate of others. I signed the petition at MomsRising for this issue, and I think it's worth everyone checking out. Let's tell Congress and everyone else that we support breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

Here We Go!

2006-11-27T13:35:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving dinner came off without a hitch. Unfortunately, I was so busy cooking and hanging out with my family that I forgot to take any pictures! I could be showing off some fabulous turkey or scrumptious pumpkin pie here, but I did not even pick up my camera Thursday, not once. Oh well, everyone's belly got full, and we all had a good time together, so that's what matters.

I've noticed that a lot of bloggers out there took advantage of the holiday weekend to work on some crafty projects, but I did just the opposite. I pretty much ignored everything I've been working on in favor of cooking, cleaning, and laying around the rest of the time. Now that the weekend is over, however, I'm jumping headfirst into all the crafty things that I need to finish (or start, for that matter) for Christmas. I have a lot of stuff to make, still, and a little shopping to do, too. I'm hoping that if I really hit it hard for the next two weeks, I can take a little stress out of the last few days leading up to the holiday. That's the plan, anyway. Let the two week sweatshop begin!

Turkey Day

2006-11-23T10:19:00.000-06:00

I'll be spending the whole day with family. To all who celebrate,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gettin' Geared Up

2006-11-22T08:56:00.000-06:00

I know I said that I wasn't going to even think about Thanksgiving until today, but let's be realistic. You can't get everything ready the day before. So I've been doing a little prepping behind the scenes here. I did all but a small bit of the grocery shopping, including a 22-lb turkey. Start big, right? Here's the menu I have planned:

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Corn on the Cob
Green Beans
Brocolli, Cheese, and Rice Bake
Macaroni and Cheese
Rolls
Pumpkin Pie for dessert

I still have to shop for a couple of things, and I may decide to add more things to the menu. I know I left out some of the traditional stuff, like sweet potato pie and cranberry sauce, but I'm trying to keep things simple and easy. This will be the first time I've actually been in charge of cooking the big family meal, so I don't want to screw it up. Simple and easy will definitely be the way to go. Less stressful!

I'm going to get a head start tonight, and make everything I can then. That way I can just pop some things in the oven to reheat, making things even simpler. Oooh, I better get to it. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

Mystery Christmas Project #2

2006-11-21T19:07:00.001-06:00

You'll remember that a while back I posted a hint for my Mystery Christmas Project #1. Well, here is the hint for MCP #2.

Pay attention, because I'm planning a contest towards the beginning of the year, and it will involve all of the MCPs and the hints that go with them.

Here's a preview of the pj pants I'm making the Munchkins for Christmas. This pair is for Munchkin #2, and they are almost done. Yay! I figured out how to make a pair of pants! Now that I think I have this figured out, you may not be able to keep me away from the sewing machine.

Hats (and Sweater Help Needed!)

2006-11-19T17:28:00.000-06:00

Well, inspections are finally over. The head of our apartments and the people from HUD came on Friday and checked the place over top to bottom. As far as I know, I passed with flying colors. Whew! Maybe things will be a little more normal around here now.

Christmas preparations are well under way, and I've realized that even though I started early this year, I still have so much to do! (Please don't mention that Thanksgiving is Thursday, and that I'm having like, 15 people for dinner here that night. Please don't ask, "Amanda, honey, shouldn't you be worried about Thanksgiving preparations before Christmas preparations?" I will think about Thanksgiving on Wednesday and figure it out then, OK?) I think I might be getting a teensy bit stressed about the holidays. I always manage to get everything done, so maybe I should just relax and let things flow a little more this season, it might just make the holidays a little more enjoyable for me.

In crafty news, I finished the hat that I started Monday, and made another.

Project Specs

Snowborder Skullies
Pattern: Snowboarder Skullies by Catherine Lindsay. I've had this pattern bookmarked for a long time, and I finally decided to try it out. Both of my hats are the dude version.
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky in 40713 Circus and 39742 Hot Blue.
Impressions: Like the yarn, like the pattern. These hats work up super quick and would be great for gifts or charity donations. I made the blue one with a size I hook and the vareigated one with a size J hook. I wanted the blue one to be a tad bit smaller, and it is. The fabric is also much denser, tighter, and less stretchy than that of the hat made with the J hook. I'm still not sure whether I like that or not. I'm going to keep the blue hat (because it fits me well, he he) and the vareigated one has a secret destination.

I've started ripping apart the sweater, but I'm having my doubts about using it as recycled yarn. I know the pic is crappy, but look closely. The edges are very frayed and threadbare where I ripped the sleeve seams apart. I'm afraid this will make the yarn have frayed spots every so far along, and I don't want that. So now I'm thinking about tossing the whole mess into the washing machine, felting it, and then cutting it apart. I could sew cell phone cozies out of the pieces, or something like that. I think the cables would be really cute felted, and I don't even know how to knit cables, so I can't unravel them and then knit them again. Yes, I think felting before unraveling is going to be the way to go here. What do you think? Anybody have any more ideas on what I can do with this cut-up sweater now? I should think these kinds of things out more thoroughly before I start attacking with the scissors from now on.

Hmmm......

2006-11-14T16:42:00.000-06:00

I almost finished a whole hat out of the Softee Chunkee last night. A whole hat! I really like this yarn, it's thick so it works up quick, and it's really soft even though it's acrylic. Pretty cheap too, and y'all know I love cheap. I can see myself making a ton of these hats for Christmas presents and charity projects, and maybe a couple for myself to wear to work. I'll take pictures of this first hat tomorrow, when there is more daylight. Hopefully it won't be so dreary and rainy here like it has been. Dreary does not make for good photos.

I haven't started unraveling the grey sweater. I'm not really sure where to start. I don't want to just cut it into pieces, because I want to get as much recycled yarn from it as possible. Maybe taking apart the seams would be a good start?

For now the munchkins and I are headed off to a birthday dinner for one of their friends. Very small, low-key. I'll probably get to work on the hat for a bit while the kids play, and the bonus is that I don't have to cook. Happy Birthday, Korbin!

What's Up For Today

2006-11-13T16:01:00.000-06:00

The munchkins and I have been laying about the apartment all day, trying not to make things messy. Little Munchkin is sick, with a nasty sounding cough and sniffles but no fever. I still plan on crafting today, but it might have to wait until after the girls are in bed. I took advantage of the good afternoon light in my kitchen to take this pic.

These are what I plan on working with tonight. I picked up the Softee Chunkee for a hat for Christmas presents, and I bought the sweater last year at a yard sale for a dollar. It's Hollister brand, 100% wool, and too small for me. I'm going to unravel it and felt a purse from it, I think.

I promised to tell y'all about the idea I've been brewing, so here it is: My boyfriend's mother and I are planning a really cool (I think) crafting party to be held the first or second week of December. We're ordering crafty kits and supplies from a bulk-sale company, and inviting a ton of women and girls to come over and craft Christmas presents for super cheap. We're planning on charging around $5 per person to come in and craft away, and then the guests can take home what they've made to give away as Christmas presents. It's kind of like a Home and Garden party with a crafty twist. What do y'all think of our idea?

Woot, Woot!

2006-11-12T22:16:00.000-06:00

It's done! Yay!!!! Finished up all the crappy cleaning jobs this afternoon. Bring on the inspection, boys! (You'll have to excuse me. I think that all the cleaning fumes I've been shut in the house with all day might be going to my head. I may not make much sense here.) Everything is done, and now all I have to do is wait around for the next two weeks to see if my place is randomly inspected.

All the cleaning really sucked, but in the end it was totally worth it. First off, the apartment looks GREAT. It hasn't been this deeply clean for a long time, and it's oh so tidy. We'll see how long it stays that way after the munchkins get back from their dad's in the morning. And it smells great in here, too, like PineSol and strawberry cheesecake-scented candles.

I finally get to relax now, and I have the whole day off tomorrow, so the munchkins and I will just be lazing around the house. Maybe I'll even get to craft a little bit, I have some things I want to wrap up and also some projects in mind to start. Tomorrow I also plan to tell you about an idea that's still brewing in my head tonight. All I will say now is that it involves a party and it's crafty. I'm just so glad all the inspection prep is over!

Inspection Central

2006-11-09T10:30:00.000-06:00

I got my notice yesterday for yearly apartment inspections. Woo hoo. (Note the sarcasm, please). That means that I have until Monday to get the apartment clean, check the smoke detectors, replace the heat duct filters, etc. And I have to keep it clean all the way until the 22nd, because inspections are random, and can happen anytime between the 13th and the 22nd. I got all prepared and had everything looking great for inspections last year, even though we had just moved in. And they never showed up. I guess I was randomly not picked. I'm still going to be prepared this year, though, because I expect that the "higher-ups" will be here to check on the place at some point. That means I have 5 days of solid cleaning ahead. So you may not hear much from me for the next couple of days. I'll try to check in as much as I can. For now, I'm off to get ready for inspections!

This Could Not Have Happened Sooner

2006-11-07T17:33:00.000-06:00

Something that will go down in the history of my generation happened today, and I'm not talking about mid-term elections here. Britney Spears has finally filed for divorce from that loser-skank-leech Kevin Federline. Yay! Britney Spears is close to my age, and I liked her before she got messed up with the mess. I lost interest in Britney while she was with K-Fed. But I have to say, she's lookin' great, and now she's losing the excess baggage. She was smart enough to have a prenup, something a lot of other young stars haven't been smart enough to do. You gotta hand it to her, she's getting her sh** together, with two young babies, and that's sexy. Go Britney, go Britney!

Socktoberfest Wrap-Up

2006-11-06T17:00:00.000-06:00

(It took me forever to getting around to this post. I think I may have been putting it off subconciously. Or maybe I really just didn't have the time or patience for Blogger.)

First off, THANK YOU to Lolly for hosting such a great web event. Tutorials, socks, interviews, socks, pictures, tons of links, and socks! Lolly put so much time and effort into this, and I hope she enjoyed it as much as we all did. I have learned so much about knitting and crocheting socks, even though I didn't finish one pair. :( The Flickr gallery for Socktoberfest is amazing, and if you haven't checked it out, you really should. What a month!

I may not have finished my first socks, but I really did make good progress on them. I finished the toe and foot of sock one and the toe and most of the foot of sock two by the last day of October. See?

This is my first pair of adult crocheted socks ever, and I'm just kinda winging it, so I need more yarn to finish them, there is not much left of the two balls I started with. (I have big feet.) I'm going as far as the rest of the foot on sock 2, and then they will go into the UFO's bin until I get more yarn to finish them. My new goal is to have them done in time for Socktoberfest 2007!

The best thing about Socktoberfest has been the enormous inspiration I have taken from all the tutorials and pictures. Since Socktoberfest began, I've been practicing away at knitting on DPN's, something I had never done before. I'm getting the hang of it, maybe. I really want to knit my next pair of socks, and I'm planning on buying extra yarn this time. I'd like to have a pair of hand-knit socks and a pair of crocheted socks by Socktoberfest next year. Think I can do it? I DO!

P. S. Check out my pics at the all new Yahoo! Photos. I think it is similar to Flickr's layout (which I still haven't downloaded). I updated my albums at Yahoo! after the switch so there are lots of new pics there.

Better in Beta?

2006-11-03T19:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I've switched. The good news is, I've managed to add a couple of photos to the post for Serafina and the Symphony Scarf. The bad news is that I can't upload photos at all right now. So my wrap-up for Socktoberfest will have to wait at least one more day.
I'm not sure if I like this new beta version of Blogger or not. It will definitely take some time to adjust to, and I plan on playing with all the new little features just to test them out. So if things start to look weird around here, let me know, I'll try and fix whatever quirks come up. I have very high hopes for this, I really don't want to switch to another server. Crossing my fingers!

Fed Up

2006-11-02T18:39:00.000-06:00

That's it. I've had it. Blogger sucks. But I don't want to switch over to a whole different domain yet, so I'm switching to the Beta version of Blogger to see if that makes anything better. If I disappear, it's not my fault. See ya in Beta, y'all!

Organization, Schmorganization

2006-11-01T20:34:00.000-06:00

I have lots of things that I want to post about, so I'm going to break them down into bits and post about everything over the next few days. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now (it could be the sugar rush), so I'm trying to get my thoughts together in the most organized way possible. Organization is a tricky little booger for me. My brain and my ability to collect junk both function much more quickly than my organizational skills. Therefore, jumbled thoughts and one hell of a still-messy closet. OK, that's enough rambling, let's get on with it. (See what I mean?)

Project Specs

Serafina Shawl
Pattern: The Serafina's Shawl by Doni
Yarn: JoAnn's Sensations Rainbow Boucle in the light blue colorway. I really like this yarn, it's soft and makes beautiful waves of color. It is very difficult to frog, though. The yarn comes in a huge ball and you can't beat the price.
Impressions: I saw many of these around the Net, most made from the same yarn as mine, and I just knew I had to do one, too. I love everything about this shawl, absolutely everything. I can't stop raving about it and showing it off. Unfortunately, it will be leaving me in about 2 months, say, around Christmas, maybe? I definitely see more in my future. Love it, love it, love it.

{Insert pic 2 of Serafina}

Project Specs

Symphony Scarf

Pattern: None. It's very simple double crochet with a few rows of single crochet spaced out even to break the scarf up a bit. I used the fringe from Sue's post here.
Yarn: Red Heart Symphony in Lt. Green. It's not the easiest yarn to work with, but it is oh so soft.
Impressions: I think this turned out to be a very pretty scarf. My fringe doesn't look as good as Sue's, but I know that the person getting it for Christmas will just love it, it's her favorite color.

That's it for tonight, guys. Blogger is being a pain in my arse, as usually, so I'll update this post tomorrow with pics. Also, for tomorrow's post, I'll show you how far I made it on my Socktoberfest socks. Til then, happy hookin'!

Too Busy With Candy

2006-10-31T18:30:00.000-06:00

Today I won't be putting up pics or writing a real post. There is too much Trick-or-Treating, Trunk-or-Treating, costumes, and candy for me to do anything else today. So until tomorrow, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pretty Party Invites

2006-10-30T22:28:00.000-06:00

The invitations that E. and I made for Nannon's birthday party turned out great!

We dug out a bunch of card stock, some stamps, fancy scissors, and acrylic paint and went to town! E. always comes to me when she needs to do something crafty, just because she knows that I'll have supplies on hand, at any given time. Tee hee! We stamped cardstock, cut it out, and glued it to another piece of cardstock. E. hand-wrote all the details inside, and we added cute little bug stickers in each corner for a little something extra. All said I think we did about 15, the ones above are just a sample. I think they're adorable and Nannon's friends at school will love getting homeade invites.

What a Day!

2006-10-30T09:50:00.000-06:00

After all the craziness of Mardi Gras over the weekend, (which was fantastic, by the way) I was psyched to have the day off from work. Gives me time to build up my energy for Trick-or-Treating tomorrow night. I took full advantage of the beautiful weather and free time to relax and do autumny-type stuff.

I started off the day by heading to the grocery store for all the fixings to make Italian beef. I came right home and put it on to cook. The beef is at the stage now where it is starting to fall apart, and it smells wonderful!

After lunch my friend S. came over for a cup of coffee, and by the middle of the afternoon we were around the kitchen table flipping through craft books, sipping coffee, and enjoying the beautiful view out the kitchen window. My friend E. stopped in and the afternoon turned into a photo shoot for the finished Seraphina and my Symphony scarf.

E.'s daughter Nannon showed up after school, and I just had to take a picture of her cuz she was lookin' so punk-rock stylin". Her 10th birthday was Saturday, and she's a great kid. Happy Birthday Nannon!

I promise to put up project specs for Serafina and the scarf either tonight or tomorrow, but for now I'm getting back to the Italian beef, and after supper E. and I are going to make the invitations for Nannon's birthday party. Back to the fun!

Trying Something New

2006-10-29T17:22:00.000-06:00

Socktoberfest has been extremely inspiring to me. I'm really liking my crocheted socks. With that said, all the sock knitting tutorials are giving me an itch to learn to knit socks! There are so many fabulous designs out there, and all the tutorials that Lolly and Socktoberfest have brought to light are so great. So I dug out a set of size 6 DPNs that I bought forever ago, and some baby yarn to experiment with. The pic is awful, but this is what I came up with:

Not a bad first attempt, I think. It's definitely a stockinette tube. But it doesn't look so great in the places where you switch from one DPN to the next. And knitting in the round feels very awkward to me. I'll keep studying the tutorials and practicing.

I'd really like to learn more about making socks and their construction in general, and I think learning to knit them is a good first step. I'm gonna keep practicing on the DPNs and go from there.

Mardi Gras Finds

2006-10-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

I promised pics of the blankie I made last night, so here they are. I am in LOVE with this blanket, and it's all for ME! I needed something for myself to break up the monotony of making Christmas presents.

I love the printed fleece, and it was on sale, of course. I used the same fleece for the back of the blanket that I used for the pillow. They look so cute together on my bed, and the blankie is so warm to snuggle up with!

The winter will be much warmer now!

As I said yesterday, Mardi Gras is in full swing here, and I checked out the flea market uptown this morning. I only brought home a couple of cool finds, the budget is limited this year. By the way, I wore my Blue Beauty Sweater to stroll through the market, it is just warm enough here to show it off! That's it in the upper left corner.
I bought Black Cherry-scented and Blueberry Cobbler-scented candles, and a couple of cute wooden hand-painted signs. Some of these things will probably become Christmas presents.

Halloween Fun

2006-10-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

I took the kids to the business Trick or Treat at the elementary school this evening. Usually it's outside, downtown, but it has rained heavily all day, so they moved it indoors. Kassi was too cute with her big Spiderman muscles, and Laynie was a big hit as Elmo with pigtails. They brought home tons of candy and we're just getting started! Tomorrow is our town's biggest celebration of the year, Mardi Gras. There's a flea market, a marching band competition, and a giant parade in the evening. The girls will be dressing up in their costumes for that too, and the parade throws out tons of candy. Plus there is Trunk-or-Treat and the standard Trick or Treating around town on Tuesday. Whew! That's a lot of candy.
After the girls went to their dad's, the boyfriend and I went to a little get-together at my friend M's. While I was there I made another fleece blanket, and this one is all for me. Yay! Pics tomorrow if I can find time among all the Mardi Gras excitement.

A Confessional

2006-10-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

There are only 5 days left in Socktoberfest. It's time for me to admit, to y'all and to myself, something I've been in serious denial about for the last week or so. There is absolutely no way I'm going to be able to finish my Socktoberfest socks by the end of October. I am horrified! I really wanted to get them done, but I still haven't been able to find any sock yarn to finish them with. Then again, I haven't really made the best effort to find something that would work with the yarn I started with (which I'm dangerously close to being out of). I checked a couple stores, like Wal-Mart (no sock yarn at all) and Jo-Anns (no sock yarn that would match). I'll still finish them when I find that perfect yarn, so that I can show them off at the beginning of Socktoberfest 2007, but I really wanted to have them done by the 31st. NOT FAIR!

(Whew! That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!)

Bravo, Stephanie!

2006-10-25T17:20:00.000-05:00

The Yarn Harlot wrote an excellent post on her blog yesterday, about the way we, as handcrafters, sometimes devalue our own work. I couldn't agree more. I have often caught myself saying things like, "Crocheting isn't hard, anybody can do it," or "It was easy, took no time at all." When in truth, there is a little piece of me in everything that I make with my hands.

My sewing adventures have taught me that just because something looks easy doesn't mean it is. I've always been a natural at crochet, so I thought I would be quick to pick up sewing skills. Not so. Now I appreciate all the handsewn things I see on the net (on places such as Craftster) so much more.

We all have our own individual talents, be they sewing, crocheting, or glass-blowing. From here on out, I will do my best to accept compliments on my work more gracefully, without diminishing the time and effort put forth to produce the work. I think everyone should read Stephanie's message and pledge to do the same, no matter what kind of stuff you make.

P. S. Stephanie's lace wedding shawl is absolutely gorgeous, a work of knitting genius!

Aren't These Cute?!

2006-10-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

Kassi is into Spiderman, into it bad, and also Pirates of the Carribean. Aaaarrrgh!

Laynie is mostly just into being goofy!

Serafina (So Far)

2006-10-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

I started the Serafina shawl and I've worked on it all weekend. I had a little trouble figuring out the pattern in the beginning, but now I've got it down and the shawl is starting to fly along.

I like the Rainbow Boucle, it works up into very pretty waves of colors. It doesn't frog well, however. Hopefully, no more swimming in the frog pond for Serafina!

The Word of the Day is... Cheap!

2006-10-21T14:27:00.000-05:00

I have added to the book collection, the yarn stash, and the fabric stash over the last two days. I just can't seem to stop myself. I went to JoAnn's yesterday and yard-saleing this morning. I picked up the Interweave Knits Holiday issue and the fall issue of Knit 1 yesterday.

This morning I paid a total of 60 cents for the other three at two different yardsales. I know that Crochet For Today was a good find, I borrowed it from the library last summer, and never got around to making anything out of it before I returned it. Now I have my own copy, super cheap! The other two are just a leaflet and a holiday magazine from the 80's or something.

I picked up this fabric yesterday on sale at JoAnn's. (I love being a preferred member, you get great coupons and always know about the sales.) The frog print is about two yards of fleece, and the kitties are three yards of flannel for more pajama pants. The yarn is Sensations Margherite, on clearance of course. I have a couple of these in pink and blue in the stash, so I bought the purple to throw in with it. It's a very soft yarn, and pretty colors, too. Again, super cheap.

I love cheap stash-building. It makes me feel good, without being too hard on the old wallet. Christmas is coming up you know, must save for presents.

Fall Has Arrived!

2006-10-19T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's really starting to get cold here. Typical highs in the mid-40's, brrrr! I love fall but I'm not crazy about cold. Yesterday I caught the windows fogging up, just from cooking a pot of macaroni and cheese.

Blogger is being a butt. It took me all day to get this post up, and today is the 20th, not the 19th!

I've been working on these blankets for over a year now, really. I started on the yellow one last fall, and cut the green one to the same size at that time. I worked on the yellow one here and there, with the intent of giving the blankets to the girls for Christmas.

I didn't finish in time for Christmas. Not even close. I made it about half-way around the yellow one, and when Christmas passed, I stuffed them in a Rubbermaid tote, which I am prone to do with projects I am pissed off at. I pulled them back out last week and set to work finishing them up. It amazed me how quickly they went this time. (I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fancy fabric scissors I bought on sale at JoAnn's.) I learned so much from the first blanket that I did the whole lime green blanket in two short evenings. Now that I've got the hang of it, I expect I'll be making quite a few more of these fringed blankets. These two Spongebob blankets will now fulfill their destiny under this year's Christmas tree, wrapped up for Kassi and Laynie.

Lest you think I have only tied together a couple blankies over the past week, I took this pic of all my other current projects. On the left are my Socktoberfest socks, they are growing bit by little bit. On the right is a scarf crocheted from Red Heart Symphony, I still need to fringe the other end.

And in the middle is a ball of JoAnn Sensations Rainbow Boucle and the pattern that I hand-copied from the Internet yesterday. It will become the Serafina Shawl, for a Christmas present. I spent a lot of time searching the Internet yesterday for just the right pattern, and this one came up again and again, so this one it shall be!

Never Enough Time

2006-10-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week, especially at work, and my computer and I have not spent much quality time together. Today is my day off and I'm playing catch-up, with the Internets and with the housecleaning. Oh, god, the housecleaning. I have soooo much to do today. Why is it that my day off always seems busier than the days I work? I'll try to take pictures of what I've been working on, and some stuff I've finished. I've still managed to find time for crafting in stolen moments before bed all week. I have Christmas presents to show!

Flava Flav!!!

2006-10-15T18:55:00.000-05:00

The season finale of Flavor of Love comes on in about two hours, and I can't wait! I sooo hope he keeps Deelishis and sends that crazy b**** New York packin'. Anybody else kept up with Flavor of Love this go-round?
I've started the second sock, so as soon as the kiddies are bathed and tucked in, the second sock and I will be curling up for some good ole, drama-filled, reality TV.

Another "Today's Lesson"

2006-10-14T23:19:00.000-05:00

The lesson of the day is: I don't know JACK about using a pattern for sewing. I bought a new pattern for the girls' pj pants, in the correct size. And I'm pretty sure I screwed up the pair I cut out anyway. I just can't seem to get the whole transferring-pattern-from-paper-to-fabric thing down. I don't know, maybe I'm just not cut out for using a pattern. I guess we will see after I try to sew these babies together.

Today's Lesson

2006-10-11T19:52:00.000-05:00

Last week I lied. I said that I was going to spend the whole weekend cleaning out drawers and closets, and putting away things to use for crafty ventures, and generally getting rid of clutter. I did clean a drawer or two. And I bagged up some stuff to send to the neighbor kids. But I did not do the vigorous clean-up I had planned. Here's a shot of what I have saved for recycling. The stack has actually gotten bigger since this picture, I'm still picking at drawers and closets here and there:

The main culprit behind the lack of cleaning mojo? I'm blaming her:

The sock is moving along quickly, mostly because once I get going, I can't seem to put it down. It sucks me in, and all the cleaning nonsense no longer registers with my brain.

I've reached the split for the ankle, and I'm actually thinking about taking out a round or two, because I think I may have been so entranced by the sock that I went too far. I'm definitely going to need more yarn, which makes sense because crochet stitches use more yarn than knit stitches. I think this is why the sock seems to be thick to me. I've never actually seen a handknit sock in person (that I can remember, anyway), so I don't have much to compare to, but it seems thick to me. They will be warm, though, and I guess that's what counts.

So, the moral of the story is, don't say you're gonna clean when you know the sock is gonna take precedence. Honestly, did you really think I was gonna clean closets when it's Socktoberfest?! He, he, he.

Too Close for Comfort

2006-10-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

We had a huge scare yesterday. My little Laynie had to be rushed by ambulance to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis for a severe infection. When I took her to our local emergency room she had a fever of 106 degrees, and the ER staff thought it best to send her to CG to have an infected abcess lanced. I am not a big fan of our rinky-dink hospital, so I was glad that they sent her to the city, but it was very scary. Loading my baby into the back of an ambulance and saying goodbye was the hardest, and scariest, thing I have ever had to do. Laynie's daddy rode in the ambulance with her, and I followed in my sister's car. It was a very difficult ride.
The staff at Cardinal Glennon is exceptional, and everyone was very patient, kind, understanding, and most importantly, skillful. Thanks to their wonderful care, Laynie's infection has been lanced and drained, her fever is gone, and she feels much better. We came home last night, and she's been playing and resting on and off ever since. Thank you so much to everyone at Cardinal Glennon, for taking such good care of my baby, and sending us home as good as new.

Finally, a Started Sock

2006-10-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

I couln't stand the idea of not having a pair of handmade socks by the end of Socktoberfest. So I sat down last night with my yarn and a couple of hooks, and swatched away. I crocheted, I frogged. Crochet, frog, crochet, frog, crochet, frog. You get the idea. After a couple hours and a little frustration, this is how far I got:

When I got up this morning I sent the girls to their dad's for a couple of hours, they haven't been seeing him much lately so it was kind of a treat for them. The treat for me? Getting to work on my sock some more. Here's where I'm at now:

By some kind of crocheting miracle, it fits. Yay! Of course, it may be more that I'm stubborn, and ripped out the damn thing over and over until it looked like it would fit, than a miracle of any sort. I'm happy either way. I love the way the colors are striping up so far, and it's going quickly now that I'm past the toe and on the foot part. I'm still convinced that I'm going to run out of yarn. I'll probably have to buy more, but if I can't find this particular kind, I'm sure I'll think of something creative. Maybe a solid pink or black for the afterthought heel and cuff. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I'm off to keep working on the sock. This whole Socktober thing is addictive!

Crochet Sock Patterns and Ideas

2006-10-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

I've spent the last couple of days researching crocheted socks (in between the closet-cleaning). I put together a list of some of what I found, for anyone else who might be interested in crocheting their Socktoberfest socks.

Toe-Up Crocheted Socks- I've only looked through this pattern so far, but it seems to be very easy to adapt.
Amanda's Weekly Zen- Scroll down to the Sept. 4th and 16th entries for some inspiration.
Crocheted Toe-Up Baby Socks- These are sooo cute! Great for using up leftovers.
Brown Shell Socks- These use more yarn than I have for my Socktoberfest socks.
Hot Pink Crocheted Socks- These socks at Knitmodo and Crochetmodo don't have a pattern but they are great for inspiration.
Many people have also suggested or mentioned the book Crocheted Socks! by Janet Rehfeldt and Mary Jane Wood. I checked it out at Amazon and it looks like it would be a good resource, but I can't really afford it right now. Eh, maybe someday.

I'm contemplating the notion of giving up Socktoberfest socks for myself. I'm afraid that my two 50g skeins of yarn won't be enough. I could make a pair of socks for each of the girls, though. Or, I could try to adapt some of the things I've found into a toe-up pattern of sorts and just crochet until I run out of yarn. I'm still deciding. I'm going to run out of time if I don't speed it up.

My Socktoberfest Sock Yarn

2006-10-05T17:39:00.000-05:00

Here's the yarn I'll be using for my Socktoberfest socks. I thought it looked very pretty posed next to these beautiful wildflowers that have escaped the flowerbed.

See the flowerbed, in the left upperhand corner? That's where the stem of the plant is, but it just keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and longer, and now the flowers hang out of the bed. I'm afraid the guy who mows the grass is going to cut them off. Now that would be a tragedy, cuz these are some of the best looking flowers I've had all year long. And they match my soon to be socks perfectly.
Here's the yarn resting in the arms of Frankenstein (we've been hanging up our Halloween decorations). I thought this pic was appropriate since it is Socktoberfest, after all. It rather looks like ole Frankie has a secret plan to run away with my sock yarn!
I guess this would not be such a great travesty, because my progress thus far is nil. Zilch. Nada. I have managed to find one crocheted sock pattern so far that uses actual sock yarn rather than worsted weight. It's the In Your Shoes Ankle Socks pattern from Crochet Me. A nice-looking pattern, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for. I have rather large feet, see, and I want to make sure that those two little balls of pink goodness are going to make it through the whole pair of socks. And the instructions are not really clear on how to adjust the pattern for your size foot. It's one possibility, and I'm not giving up. I'll keep looking until I find just the right pattern, or figure out how to adjust this one. I'm fully dedicated to seeing this project all the way through, and to finishing on time. Let the games begin!

The Next Big Craft Adventure

2006-10-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

I'm planning on doing a lot of decluttering around my apartment this weekend. The time for giving and receiving gifts is fast approaching, and the 3 (sometimes 4) of us are running out of space. One of our biggest problem areas is the dressers in our bedrooms. They are simply overflowing with clothes, and the closets are the same way. So I've come up with a way to get rid of some stuff that we don't need, and at the same time, try to save some money during the upcoming holiday season. Drumroll, please.....
I'm going to clean out all of our old clothes, and rather than donate them or give them away, I'm going to organize them to be used for various crafty endeavors. Sure, I won't keep everything. But I have tons of ideas flying around in my head on ways to recycle old clothes and such. Why not channel that into Christmas presents, made from the heart and by hand?
This weekend I am going to do my best, with the time I have, to clean out and organize all these clothes that we really aren't wearing. I'll also try to take pictures of this wardrobe de-stash/crafty stash-up adventure, and post them for fun. This will be the hard part. The fun comes when I can pull everything back out, a little at a time, and create.

P.S. Since I figured out this whole button thing, I'm trying to update the look of my blog, or at least make it more colorful. I'm adding buttons under my link bar right now, so if you want to be included, contact me through the comments. Thanks!

Maybe not so Weak after all

2006-10-03T20:54:00.000-05:00

Yay! I figured out the whole buttons in the sidebar thing all by myself, just some patience and a couple of internet tutorials. I'm patting myself on the back right now.
I said I would post about Socktoberfest when I was done with the button, so here goes. I have never knit a pair of socks before, and I've only crocheted baby socks. I'm going to crochet myself my first pair of socks with some Moda Dea Sassy Stripes in a pink colorway hidden in the stash, but first I have to find the perfect pattern. I've been browsing the other SF participant's blogs to see who else crochets, but no luck yet. I'm also going to use up my sock yarn scraps to make preemie socks, and I'll add them to the hats I plan to donate.
Those are really my only goals for Socktoberfest, I have to think about Christmas presents right now, so I don't want to set my sights too high. I can't wait to have my own pair of handmade socks, though, so I'm excited to get started. Happy sock knitting (or crocheting!)

Weak

2006-10-03T05:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it. I broke down and joined Socktoberfest 2006, even if I was two days late. Oops. Lolly is running this shindig, and offering up some great prizes.

Ok, see that? The button works just fine there. But I can't seem to make it work on my side bar, and I definitely cannot figure out why. Oooooooh, so frustrating. I'm not a big fan of html. If anyone can help me figure this out, that would be so great. E-mail me, comment, any help would, well, be helpful. I'll post more about Socktoberfest when I get this figured out.

Dang It!

2006-09-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

I just discovered the crappiest thing. The really cute patterns that I bought for pj pants for the girls are the wrong size. One of them will fit Laynie, but one is still too small for her and neither pattern is big enough for Kassi. It's my own fault, really. I guess I was caught up in the giant sale craze at Jo-Ann's, and in a hurry, and just not paying very good attention, all which are normal for me, but dang it! I was so looking forward to getting started on those pj's! So I guess I now have two options. Option 1: Try to return the completely wrong size pattern and keep the pattern that will fit one child. Or, Option 2: I can attempt to "resize" the pattern to fit my girls. It seems to me that for every 1/2 inch that the size increases, the pattern piece also gets 1/2 bigger, with the exception of the fold for the waist elastic and the hems. These also increase proportionally. So, is it possible? Could I just measure out the required 1/2 inch (or whatever) and follow the line of the smaller pattern? Can I actually resize the pattern? I don't know. Feedback would be greatly appreciated here, I really like the pattern itself and I am itching to start these pants. I would hate to have to wait two weeks until I can get back to Jo-Ann's to find out if they will even let me exchange the pattern. Help!

A Little Quickie

2006-09-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

I had a little spare time yesterday between work and making supper, so I decided to try out a couple of my new toys from Jo-Ann's, namely my new cutting mat and pinking shears. Here are the results:

A cute little pillow to adorn my bed! Pretty simple, really. I cut out two 16x16 squares of anti-pill fleece and sewed them together, right sides out, leaving a 2 and 1/2 inch border all the way around. I sewed around it twice for durability, leaving about a 3 inch opening for the stuffing. After I stuffed it I pushed the filling down and pinned it that way so that I could fit the pillow back under the foot of the sewing machine, and closed it up. I cut the border into fringe with my fancy-schmancy pinking shears and tied them into little knots. Voila! Pretty little pillow for my bed. My only complaint is that I didn't have enough fleece to make a bigger pillow. Oh well, when I'm ready to make the huge version of this pillow, I'll know exactly what to do!

Project Specs for Hat, Socks, and Afghan

2006-09-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

First off: Congratulations to Diana and Chris on the birth of their baby Wednesday afternoon, a healthy 8 pound boy. Chris called to let me know earlier that the baby has been wearing his new hand-crocheted hat at the hospital, and it's a hit with all the nurses. So, I'll give you the specifics.

Project Specs

Black and White Baby Set
Pattern: For the socks, I used an old standby, the Granny's Garret baby sock pattern that I love. I made the hat off the top of my head, no pattern, just a hook and the leftover sock yarn.
Yarn: The yarn didn't have a label anymore, but it is a self-striping sock yarn, I think either Bernat Hot Sox or Moda Dea Sassy Stripes.
Impressions: I've made this sock pattern several times. It's very quick, can give very different results with a different yarn or hook, and the socks are always a hit. I'm proud of the hat because it's my own design, I guess, and I'm so glad that it fit right off the bat!

And now for the granny afghan:

Project Specs

Artful Granny Square Afghan
Pattern: No pattern, just standard granny squares, with a larger granny in the middle.
Yarn: Scrap yarn. I needed to use some up, and these colors spoke to me. They also match my bedroom color scheme. It's all worsted weight acrylic, mostly RH Super Saver and TLC Essentials.
Impressions: I love my blanket. It's been a long time since I set out to make something on this scale all for myself, so I was excited from the beginning. Now that it's done, I'm enamored with it, but I'm not going to use it, per say. I'm going to hang it from my wall-mounted quilt rack/shelf thing and display it as a piece of art.

Strike a Pose!

2006-09-26T00:38:00.000-05:00

Aaahhh, the camera, she is back. Yay! I finally was able to take pictures yesterday, and it was beautiful outside, and all the neighborhood kids were running around enjoying the cool fall weather. So we had a little photo shoot.

There's Kassity on top, holding Curious George. George is modeling the hat and booties I made for the neighbor's baby, who is due tomorrow. We can't wait for him to come out of Di's belly so we can all see him. And that's Trenton and Shane on the bottom. They had to have their turn with the monkey too.

Baby Nevaya wanted to model everything, so here she is with Kaylee, George and his ensemble, and the recently finished granny square afghan. Aren't they beautiful? (I meant the kids, of course.)

Another gratuitous baby and blankie shot and the full view of the afghan:

I'm just too tired to give project specs for these two tonight, so I'll leave that for tomorrow. For now, I'm off to feed the girls dinner and give them baths. Maybe I can squeeze in some more crocheting before the night is over. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, but I won't be holding my breath for it!