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).

"It's been a while.....since" the last time I posted

No excuses from me, but I will give you a list of what I've been up to....
We decided to repaint our bedroom, finally, we've been putting it off because of the work that we would have to invest. So, the previous owners put up some kind of border along the top of the walls (all of them) and it's a texture. The stuff was like cement. We sanded for hours...needless to say, we could not get it anywhere near as flat as the wall and there was approximately five coats of paint on top of it. We (er....me) then spackled to try and fill in whatever gaps were in between the "stipples". Then it was time to......any guesses.....yes, that's right.....SAND. So we sanded the spackle nice and smooth. Then we applied primer. Then we painted the ceiling. Today we painted the first wall color, which is the main color that will be on three of the walls. Tomorrow we will paint the accent color. I will include pictures when it's all done.
I started a shawl pattern, that I don't have the specs for at the moment, but when it's done I will add them. I'm still working on my Lacy Shawl (RAV link) and I've been naughty because I haven't finished my March square yet....and March is almost over...yikes fits well here, I suppose. The square is from the 2009 12" CAL on Ravelry.
I recieved the next installment of my Annie's Hook & Needle Kit Club. It's for a teddy bear. This is totally something that I would not normally make if I hadn't gotten the kit from this club. It's super cute.
I decided to frog the Crochet Today sweater that I was making. The yarn and pattern just weren't going to work together. I have to find another use for the yarn....we shall see.
Herrshcners is so great, I ordered more yarn b/c the sale was irresistable. I found an online coupon and that's great too. I've also been commissioned to make another Thumbkin Frog. They are really cute and easy. I sincerely enjoyed making it. I also finished a purse....simple envelope style. I basically crocheted a rectangle and then sewed up the bottom 2/3 of it to create the pouch. I may attach some buttons, or great brave and add some crochet embroidery. I will include pictures when it's officially complete.
I just got my two Interweave crochet issues, the Winter and Spring. I've excitedly looked thorugh them and plans are dancing through my head....so we shall see.
My wedding plans are still toddling along. We are going to fly down to the Keys in May to check out some venues and locations. We also want to make sure that the weather will be nice for that time of year.
I will be back very soon with some updated objects.