Xmas over and Wedding continues

Now that I'm finished with Christmas...at least the hooky/needle-ee part, it's time to bring my attention about 98% towards my wedding. The other 2% is for miscellaneous knitting and/or crocheting. I'm crocheting my dress for the wedding. I'm so very excited. I'm almost half way complete. I had originally thought to create my own, but that task is far too daunting for me. So, instead I've decided to be vintagely inspired and I will be using the 1930's Inspired Gown pattern (rav link). I'm using Naturally Caron Spa Yarn in the "Naturally" colorway. I love this yarn; it's very soft and has a really great draping quality to it. I'm also using a size B/2 hook to maintain gauge. Wish me luck! I will post pics as I move along

Now, onto wedding stuff...I really hope some people will comment with helpful ideas. I want to stay away from flowers in my centerpieces. My wedding is in March. I was thinking, candles, feathers, beads, fancy sticks, and other vintage inspired things.

Here is a sample from someone's party that I found online. Something small, well constructed and slightly vintage inspired. Since I plan to make them myself I need something that is scatter-brain proof.....I have lots of things swirling in my small mind, but I think I can consolidate. Any cool ideas about vintage for a wedding are greatly appreciated.
Talk to you soon!

Christmas Crochet - Underway

I'm making many scarves....I've made 2 Baktus scarves...what a great pattern.

I'm working on a simple, but warm and pretty sweater for my sis....The Side to Side Cowl Neck Sweater...very cute and very easy, so far....almost done with the body of the sweater.

Also, Mom has asked me to make her a small blanket for her new car. Oddly enough, she also crochets, but she claims that her attention span has been short recently. I told her, yes.....I'm making it using the pattern that resembles little rows of kitty heads.

For Marc I made a Crazy Scarf...this pattern is fantastic. So easy and so cool. I used a skein of Red Heart Super Saver in some manly ombre colors. I hope he likes it.....keep him warm in the dungeon.

I plan to make Heather (sis), a pair of fingerless gloves and a matching scarf. Same, maybe for Mom, or maybe just mittens (last year she made noises about wanting a pair).

Almost

Wedding plans are underway...again....things are changing rapidly and not always for the better.
We might move the wedding date closer....not b/c I have any secrets to extol, but b/c I've sort of always wanted to get married in January or February (not Valentine's Day). Sometimes it's funny to try and reconcile "growing up" with the past; at least, from my point of view.

Now, onto other "stuff". Almost time to start my holiday knitting/crochet extravaganza. First, I'm working on a shawl for my friend Jen's birthday. The pattern is the Doily Shawl from the Lion Brand Website. I've attached the Ravelry link for it though. This pattern is written by Doris Chan, one of my favorite designers. It's going very smoothly and I hope to finish it by Friday. Fingers crossed. It's such a lovely pattern and I'm also using 2 strands together, but a Bernat Cool Crochet yarn and a Caron Simply Soft. It's a soft beige color. I promise to try and be more motivated and attach pictures. If I do not attach them here, then I will try my best to attach them to the my ravelry project page....which doesn't exist yet....ahem.

Take Care!

Hmmm....Summer is almost gone

I always wonder how people seem to have enough energy and ideas to write in their blogs.  I, on the other hand, am rather lazy.  I have many projects that I would love to blog about.  I also have many things going on in my life that I would like to share, but alas....I am rather lazy.
I think that I try a little bit harder to get on here and do some blogging...I haven't even updated Ravelry.  I haven't even pulled photos from my camera since early July!  I mean, what kind of serious, or at least responsible blogger just coldly ignores her responsibilities??  Me!
My real problem with blogging is the fact that I find that it isn't easy.  I have a difficult time using Blogger.  The way the photo adding function works and the weird quirks to the system, make me reluctant to spend the amount of time necessary to make sure that my blog looks nice, is consistent, and has no blatant errors in it.
If anyone wants to offer any advice for how to better update my blog, while including photos, I am all ears.
My goal is to do my photos tomorrow and to update my blog AND Ravelry as well.  I'm sure that no one is worried about my blog status, as I doubt strongly that anyone reads it but me....::sighs::  All is well and Good Night.

I'm back and 95% healthy

Hello...finally, I'm mostly back to normal. No more vertigo, no more ear infection (mostly). Back to work and everything. There's nothing like having all that time off of work and not really enjoying it b/c you can't drive anywhere or walk all that well. At one point, hold onto your needles peeps, I couldn't even crochet! Made me quite queasy. I also had to push and prod coworkers and my insurance company to help me figure out this whole "short term disability" mess. Oh fun memories.
Crafty time. So I have an FO to share, some kitty pics, some house pics, and a pic of a man doing what a man should...ahem...sorry (my opinion...I know).

Pattern: Short Skirt from Crochet That Fits by Mary Jane Hall; I raved about the book here.
Yarn: Red Heart Designer Sport 3770 Berry (used 2.5 skeins)
Hook(s): H (5.0mm) and J (6.0mm)
Made for: Me
Notes: Please see my Ravelry project for notes

All of my other projects are still on hold. I want to finish my Shell Shell and then maybe I will start something else. We shall see.
So, I've been busy b/c my backyard looks like this:


But, we've done some cleaning up, and now it looks like this:


Don't look at the trash bag that is in both photos...ahem...totally laying out there for like weeks....I'm such a responsible adult...pfft. In those big black trash bags is the pool liner, cut up into pieces, along with the styrofoam lining (hello....not environmentally friendly). Also, if you look carefully at the second photo you can see our neatly rolled up aluminum pool shell. We are going to recycle it, and we get money too....$$$
Still a lot of work to do, keep us in your good landscaping thoughts.

Here's a shamelessly cute photo of kitty little:

Here's a shamelessly cute photo of a man, my man doing his job....tee hee:

~Healthy......

Just a quick post for today.
I've been out sick from work for just over two weeks with an ear infection and associated vertigo....vertigo means that I can't drive anywhere....talk about stir crazy.
I have been crafting...ahem...a lot...and in between Xbox 360, and I will have pics when I get some motivation and put them on my comp.
Regards!

Crafty Update

Before I start with my crafty update, I will show you our new bedroom:


Pattern: Shell Envelope Clutch by Casey Adamson
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Hook: H/5.0mm
Made for: Not sure if I'm going to give it away; I want to make it firmer b/c it's slightly floppy.
Notes: Very simple and easy to make. Great for beginners who are done with making scarves or potholders.

Pattern: Winter Dream by April Moreland
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Pale Green
Hook: I/5.5mm
Made for: 12" Square 2009 CAL on Ravelry; March square
Notes: I liked this pattern, lovely.


Pattern: Esther's Square by Chris Simon
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Pale Green and White/gray mill ends (100% acrylic)
Hook: H/5.0mm
Made for: 12" Square 2009 CAL on Ravelry; January square 2
Notes: I decided to make this square because I want to make the blanket larger. I'm going to make all the other squares of the previous months, BEFORE I make the April squares. It's my own little deadline.

Now that my FOs are shown, I can talk about some of the other stuff that I'm working on.
Right now I'm on the front of the Elegant Shell by Lion Brand. It's made with Bernat Satin Olive Mist Heather. I love this yarn and this pattern is really lovely. I will hopefully finish by the end of this week. We shall see.
I've also started with a bathmat. In mentioning this project I can also talk about the Dizzy Sheep. If you are any kind of yarn fanatic (ahem...like me), they have great yarns on sale...different one for each day.
So, I got this Lana Grossa yarn ($0.99/skein 50gr). It's called Tender and it's bicolored. It's fuzzy and perfect for a bathmat and b/c it's so inexpensive it actually makes it worth it. It wasn't on their website, so I included a link to yarndex. The bathmat is just done in double crochet and with an I Hook it's going really really quickly.


I'm also working on a simple knit shawl, my first shawl, so I'm excited about that. My other shawl is coming along, slowly but surely.....ugh...it's sort of my go to project when I'm done with something else. I'm also thinking of knitting a button curtain (if I decide to do it I will talk more about it).