YoP week 4

Another week has flown past.  I have been a busy bee with both crafting and personal life.  AND........I have photos once again.  HEEHEE..............I can not believe that I actually have kept that up for a whole month.  I don't know why it has been so hard for me to remember to photograph in the past.  My little point and shoot camera sits right by the computer at all times, so it's not like I can never find the camera.  Before you all get all up in arms about the fact that I use a point and shoot camera for my photos..................I do have a nice Kodak with all the bells and whistles on it, but................................it is a pain in the arse to download the pictures to my computer and even harder to get them transferred to my blog.  Yes, I am an impatient person at times.

Any who....................Let's see what transpired this week in the crafting life of a lefty crafter.

First up......................

Another doll dress for the American Girl doll.  I modified the pattern just a smidgen.

I added the white trim to it as the neck and sleeves did not lay properly when I was finished with it.  And since it is an acrylic yarn with plastic sequins on it, blocking with an iron didn't seem like too good of an idea.

It also called for three button down the back but..........................no button holes were in the pattern and the knit was too tight to push buttons through.  So I used an large hook and eye at the neckline to close it.  I think my Grand Daughter will like it.  

Here is something else I finished

Another dishcloth!  They are so quick and easy to do......................well most of them.

This one took a bit more time to complete since it had a pattern in the pattern.  This one is for my BFF.  She works at a Vets office and loves her doggies.  She looks forward to her dishcloths that she gets each year at Christmas.  She normally starts hinting about this time of year that she is in need of a few more of them.  Even though they last for a long time, she loves getting new ones each year and I am more than happy to make them for someone that really appreciates the work that goes into them.

I worked on the second sock a bit this week too but only got about 6-10 rows done on it.  It is kind of my 'go to' project while I am considering what I want to start on next.

So how am I doing?

YoP 4 List

New items to do

Lapghan for my mom

(I started on this on July 1st since this is when the official YoP 4 started)

FINISHED 7/6/14

2-3 Doll Clothes

(I really want to get this done this year......I really do)

TWO DONE 7/16/14

ONE ON THE NEEDLES

FINISHED 7/22/14

Slippers

(These make the best Christmas gifts and my entire family said they need new ones)

WIP's to complete

1 fingerless mitt

( This is for a Christmas gift this year so it WILL be done soon)

Log Cabin Blanket

(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now.  It needs to leave it)

One sock

(This also needs to be done for Christmas.  It's been lingering around for 6 months)

DID A FEW ROWS ON IT DURING WEEK 3-4

Yearly projects I do anyway

12 dishcloths 

( These also make such nice Christmas gifts and are quick and fun to do)

THREE COMPLETED 7/26/14

Socks

( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)

Things to increase my skills

2-3 test knits/crochet

(I have done a few of these over the past year and loved doing them.  They totally test my skills as a crafter and help me branch out into areas I would never ever think of going)

   

Personal Goal

Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.

( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year.  I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)

NO YARN BOUGHT AS OF 7/27/14

Take photos of ALL items when done.

(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)

YUP, SO FAR AS OF 7/27/14

This past week was a busy one on the personal front.  So let's find out what happened this week.

Monday....................worked as usual and then headed out to visit my mom in her assisted living facility.  It is a bit of a drive but I enjoy the time I get with her and she looks forward to my visits. (Probably because I bring her goodies to eat)

Tuesday.................My female dog had a dental done at the vets office and ended up loosing 10 teeth.  (dogs have 42 so she has plenty left to eat with)  Hubby had to go to the dentist too and lost one tooth.  So I played nurse maid all day and night to these loves.  Hubby is doing fine and the dog is getting along just fine too.  But a stressful day to say the least.  Although, this is the day I was able to complete the doll dress.

Wednesday.............work, work, work.  I enjoy my job but with all that had happened the day before, I was exhausted and by the time I got home I just wanted to go to sleep.  But I didn't.  I cooked dinner (soft food) for hubby and I, took my male dog out for his daily training and knitted to ease my mind of all things.

Thursday....................Worked and then headed out to visit mom again.  I go twice a week to see her.  Other family members go on three other days so she is not without family support.  Lucky for us, we had leftovers from Wednesday so dinner was a breeze to do.  Started knitting on a dishcloth to relax me.

Friday.....................Went to work and could not connect to our server.  Called our IT person and it took them 2 hours to get to our office.  Seems one of our drivers bit the dust.  They worked on it until after 1 and decided that they needed to take it home over the weekend to get it fixed.  So in the mean time, all of us 'girls' at the office, cleaned the whole office and made it look all nice and shiny.  We left early since there was nothing we could do after that.  Went to start my car and it was DEAD!  No clicking, no grinding, nothing.  Called hubby to let him know and one of the girls gave me a ride home.  Then Hubby and I went out on a date that night.  Had not done that in a looooooong time and it was so much fun.  We played bingo at one of the local casinos.Didn't win a thing.  So we thought we would try our luck at a couple of slots.  WOOHOO!  Went home with more $$$ than we started with.  Made up for all the ugly stuff that happened during the day.

Saturday.........................went to get the car.  Couldn't jump it.  Lucky for us, we have roadside assistance (it is a new car).  So, got a tow truck out there and he towed it to our dealership.  Managed to get home and cleaned up in time to get boy dog to his doggie school.  Went home and had lunch and knit until it was time to go to church.  (still waiting at this point to find out what is going on with the car)  After church, I called the dealership and it took 20 minutes to get someone to give us an update on the car.  It is fixed!!!!!!!!!  Seems there was something in the gear shift panel that had gone bad.  It is now replaced and ready to go.  Decided to wait until Sunday to pick up the car as we were hungry and wanted to go eat.  Out to dinner we went and then came home and I finished up the doggie paw dishcloth.  Went outside for the dogs last potty of the night and WHAT A LIGHT SHOW we had going.  Lightning everywhere.  Streaks and streaks of it.  It was beautiful.  (just praying that nothing was getting hit with the lightning though)  Went to bed and the STORM hit!  Winds so hard that it blew our front door open.  We have a solid wood front door and it is double locked, so blowing it open would take some gale force winds.  Both dogs were buried under our covers and shaking so hard, it felt like we had one of those cheap hotel beds with the vibrating machine on it.

This morning I got up and went outside to survey any damage that might have happened from the storm.  I am happy to say....................we are all ok and no damage to any of our property.  The best part is........................it really cooled off the temps.  It was a nice 81 this morning and compared to the 93 it has been most mornings this week, it was a pleasant change.

Now I am off to look for a receipt that I need for the auto dealership.  Will go and walk the dogs and take them through their paces for their obedience class.  Then will go and pick up my car and come home and hopefully get the laundry done,  make menus for this weeks dinners, grocery shop, and some more knitting.  I already have another project cast on and hopefully will complete it today.  Yup, another dishcloth.

Happy crafting.

YoP week 3

Another week, another post from me.  I can hardly believe it myself. 

And, I am happy to report I have another finished item to show all of you.

This is a little skirt for the American Girl doll. It is made with Red Heart Shimmer.  The only issue I have is, blocking is not a possibility, with it being acrylic and having the 'shimmer' thread running through it.

It was a pretty quick and easy pattern to do.  I love doing lacy type projects and this did not disappoint me at all.

I started on another project right away too.

Since my Grand Daughters Bday is the first of August, I decided to complete all my doll cloths for that purpose this year.  This is a sweet little dress for her AG doll.  I have had this yarn in my stash for a looooong time and she has been longing for me to make something for her with it.  I mean, after all, there is BLING in it.  It is Rozetti Polaris and comes in such lovely colors.

 My lighting is horrible but this is a BRIGHT cherry red.  It is totally cloudy outside and inside is not the best place for a red yarn to be photographed.  Anyway, I am done with the skirt part of the dress and am now starting on the bodice.  As you can see, it also has a lace pattern to the skirt.  For some reason I had a horrible time with this lace.  My counts would be off, I would for get to pass the slip stitch over, put too many YO in it.  I did a lot of ripping back and with lace, that is not a fun thing.  But this yarn was very forgiving and didn't cause me a lot of grieve doing it.  I should have it done by weeks end and then will need to start on something else RIGHT AWAY.

I have no clue what will be next on the list to work on.  Will probably start in on the Christmas gifts that I want to do so they will be ready in plenty of time.  Lucky for me, all of them are small projects so I won't melt in our 115 degree heat that is coming this week.

I know you all are probably tired of seeing my list each week.  But it keeps me focused on my goals and if I don't put it on my blog each week, I will not follow it as I should.  I know this from years past and I DO learn from my mistakes (most of the time)

YoP 4 List

New items to do

Lapghan for my mom

(I started on this on July 1st since this is when the official YoP 4 started)

FINISHED 7/6/14

2-3 Doll Clothes

(I really want to get this done this year......I really do)

TWO DONE 7/16/14

ONE ON THE NEEDLES

Slippers

(These make the best Christmas gifts and my entire family said they need new ones)

WIP's to complete

1 fingerless mitt

( This is for a Christmas gift this year so it WILL be done soon)

Log Cabin Blanket

(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now.  It needs to leave it)

One sock

(This also needs to be done for Christmas.  It's been lingering around for 6 months)

Yearly projects I do anyway

12 dishcloths 

( These also make such nice Christmas gifts and are quick and fun to do)

ONE COMPLETED 7/10/14

Socks

( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)

Things to increase my skills

2-3 test knits/crochet

(I have done a few of these over the past year and loved doing them.  They totally test my skills as a crafter and help me branch out into areas I would never ever think of going)

   

Personal Goal

Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.

( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year.  I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)

NO YARN BOUGHT AS OF 7/20/14

Take photos of ALL items when done.

(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)

YUP, SO FAR AS OF 7/20/14

Not much else in the knitting/crocheting world going on with me.  I will admit, though, that I have looked at yarn this past week but kept telling myself NO! I have so much stash yarn and there is really no reason to purchase anymore for a long time.  Now, that being said...........................if for some reason I find a test knit/crochet that I want to partake in and I absolutely do not have the correct fiber for it.............well then, all bets are off.  But I have everything from lace to worsted.  The only thing I don't have is bulky yarn.  So we will see how I continue to do on the fasting of yarn buying.

In other news...........................Doggie school is going great.  We had our second lesson this week and I learned a lot about what we have been doing wrong with the dogs.  This week we learned heel and sit.  Even though we worked with 'sit' last week, the little boy dog just didn't get it.  Not his fault but his owners issue.  We got that corrected yesterday and our walk this morning went pretty good.  As for the little girl dog that is not going to class..............................she is so smart and so gets what we want from her.  If I am in a great mood, I take the boy first, since he is more of a problem and then the girl.  Bad mood................reverse that order as she gets my mood elevated in about 20 yards of walking.

Today we are finishing up our guest room and making it ready for our company that is coming in and out during the month of August.  I am not sure how many will be here off and on but I already know there will be 5 here starting on the 5th and more to come later in the month.  We will have a full house but I am so looking forward to it.  My Mom is so thrilled that her grands and great grands are coming down to see her.  Too bad it took her getting this ill for them to come for a visit.  But they are young and have such active lives.  I totally get it.  I was the same way at their age.

Off to work on the house a bit,  then need to do some quick grocery and supply shopping for the week and THEN I will pick up my needles and get that dress as completed as I can before my eyelids close for the day.

Happy Crafting!

YoP week 2 and finished items

Week two and I already have finishes to show you all.  First up...............................Lapghan for my mom.  I was told that natural light is the best to show off the colors and pattern.  I am not impressed with this photo.  Could it be because it was already 104 outside and the sun was brutal?

So I took another one in the house using natural light bulbs and it really shows up much better.  This is a combination of two patterns from a book I had purchased several years ago.  I had only made one afghan from the book and so it was fun mixing and matching the patterns to get the effect I wanted.  My mom was thrilled with the finished product.  I completed it last Sunday about an hour before I went to visit her.  The yarn is Dark Horse and 100% acrylic but oh so soft and wears so well.

After I finished the lapghan, I decided I wanted something with instant gratification.  So here it is

One of the 12 dishcloths I need to complete by Christmas.  This is my favorite pattern and will be the one I use for all the cloths.  This didn't get completed as fast as I wanted.  It actually took me about 3 evenings to complete.  But it is a mindless knit for me since I have done the pattern now for 2 years.

Next up.....................................................

I sweet little dress for Josie's American Girl doll.  I learned about 3 new skills doing this.  There were.................making gathers, picot hems and reverse stockinette stitch.

I also got to do a button band for the first time but since it was done as the same time as the dress was being knitted, I didn't find it near as hard as the ones that you have to add later (or so I have heard they are hard)

I am making a skirt now for the AG doll and have it about 2/3 done.  I should be able to finish that tonight and then move on to something else off my list.  

So how does it look so far:

YoP 4 List

New items to do

Lapghan for my mom

(I started on this on July 1st since this is when the official YoP 4 started)

FINISHED 7/6/14

2-3 Doll Clothes

(I really want to get this done this year......I really do)

ONE DONE 7/12/14

Slippers

(These make the best Christmas gifts and my entire family said they need new ones)

WIP's to complete

1 fingerless mitt

( This is for a Christmas gift this year so it WILL be done soon)

Log Cabin Blanket

(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now.  It needs to leave it)

One sock

(This also needs to be done for Christmas.  It's been lingering around for 6 months)

Yearly projects I do anyway

12 dishcloths 

( These also make such nice Christmas gifts and are quick and fun to do)

ONE COMPLETED 7/10/14

Socks

( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)

Things to increase my skills

2-3 test knits/crochet

(I have done a few of these over the past year and loved doing them.  They totally test my skills as a crafter and help me branch out into areas I would never ever think of going)

   

Personal Goal

Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.

( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year.  I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)

NO YARN BOUGHT AS OF 7/13/14

Take photos of ALL items when done.

(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)

YUP, SO FAR AS OF 7/13/14

On a fun note.  Hubby and I took our youngest dog to obedience school yesterday.  It is a 6 week course with daily homework to do.  So far..........................he will do all the commands at home but not when we are out and about.  Of course this is only day 2.  We are also working with his 'sister' and she seems to be catching on quite well to all of it.  Our youngest dog is a bit aggressive towards anyone coming into our home and also to big dogs.  We are hoping this will break him of all those bad habits.  We love him, but he is becoming a bit of a bully and for only weighing 9 pounds.................................it is almost laughable.  Well, until he grabs someones clothes and tries to bite them.

That is all for now......................................will talk to you all next week.

Happy Crafting.

YoP 4!

I can hardly believe that this is the fourth year of YoP.  It only seems like a few months ago I was making my first list of what I wanted to accomplish in a years time.  Oh, how much I have learned from that first year list.  Year two, I was more ambitious and made a list that even the best crafter in the world would have laughed at.  Yup, learned a lot from that list.  Year three, I made a much more 'generic' list.  I still was not able to complete all that was on that list but I did much better than I had in the previous years.

So this year I made my list.  Then I tore it up.  I made another list.  That one got trashed too.  I made a third list and was pretty pleased with it but still feel it is not exactly the way I want it.  I have done some scratching out of things, added things, more scratching, more adding, adjust amount of items in certain areas, tried to put things on there that would make me expand my knitting/crocheting skills.  Ok, I think I am ready to release THE LIST.

YoP 4 List

New items to do

Lapghan for my mom

(I started on this on July 1st since this is when the official YoP 4 started)

2-3 Doll Clothes

(I really want to get this done this year......I really do)

Slippers

(These make the best Christmas gifts and my entire family said they need new ones)

WIP's to complete

1 fingerless mitt

( This is for a Christmas gift this year so it WILL be done soon)

Log Cabin Blanket

(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now.  It needs to leave it)

One sock

(This also needs to be done for Christmas.  It's been lingering around for 6 months)

Yearly projects I do anyway

12 dishcloths 

( These also make such nice Christmas gifts and are quick and fun to do)

Socks

( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)

Things to increase my skills

2-3 test knits/crochet

(I have done a few of these over the past year and loved doing them.  They totally test my skills as a crafter and help me branch out into areas I would never ever think of going)

   

Personal Goal

Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.

( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year.  I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)

Take photos of ALL items when done.

(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)

So there you have it.  Seems I have a lot of crafting to do between now and Christmas.  But that is the way it always is and then I worry that I won't have anything to work on after that.  This year I have made sure there is plenty on the list that will keep me busy after Christmas.

Will touch base with y'all next week.

Happy crafting!