YOP LIST 2023-2024

Friday, December 21, 2012

Dear Readers

Dear Readers,

Please do not think that I have forgotten about any of you.  We all know this time of year is so crazy and that goes double for us crafters.  I promise I have not stopped knitting or crocheting.  Just the opposite.  I have been knitting up a storm!  In fact that is what has kept me from my blog.  I have spent every spare second I have knitting on a couple of very special projects.  One of them is still a secret but since the person it is intended for does not even know I have a blog I can tell you about it.

I knit a baptismal gown for our newest God Daughter.  She was born on 12/20/12 and is just so precious.  I started the gown over a month ago and finished it about 2 weeks ago.  I do not have a photo of it.  I think it would be best to take the photo when she is in the dress.  (or if I have some spare time I will take one and post it here)  The parents do not know about the dress.  I told them we would take care of getting the dress and mommy thinks I am getting some frilly lacy crinoline thing. Boy, will she be surprised.  The best part is.................this dress is so soft and cuddly and warm.................the baby will not have to worry about being all scratched up from  frilly stuff.  She will be very comfortable. 

The other item I am knitting on fast and furious is a hooded sweater for my Grand Daughter.  She picked out the yarn herself (she's 7) and I picked out the pattern.  I am hoping to have it done by Christmas for her.  She has been ever so patient about it too.  She knew I was doing the baptismal gown for Grace and would check in with me daily to find out if I was done with 'The Gown' yet.  One day she informed me that I needed to hurray up and finish the gown because "it's getting to be sweater weather" here in the Arizona desert.  I have finished all but 1/2 of the sleeves.  I am doing them two at a time and they should be done by the end of this weekend.  Then I will sew it together and present it to her for Christmas on Tuesday morning.

The rest of my YoP projects have been placed on hold until these two items of clothing are done and and gifted to their respective giftee.  I have never tried to make clothing other than socks before so this has been quite a challenge for me.  I have totally enjoyed doing it and look forward to doing more of this type of knitting and crocheting.

Once Christmas and New Years has past I will be back on board with the YoP group and looking over what is left to do on my list.  I know there is plenty but then I have to decide what it is that I want to do next.

So thanks for hanging in there with me and still checking out my blog to see if anything new has been posted.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

Happy Crafting

LeftyCrafter!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

I;m still here

I don't want any of my YoP friends to think that I have forgotten about my blog or YoP updates.  I have been very busy the last couple of weeks and have not had the time to blog or take any photos.  But I do have some news about my crafting.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to knit my yet to be born God Daughter her Baptismal gown.  I found a lovely pattern and some really nice soft white yarn to make it out of.  I started on it right away.  So far I have the front finished and have started on the back.  I still have the skirt of the back to do, the little sleeves and the bonnet to match.  Baby Grace is not due until December 21 and the baptism will not be until after the first of the year.  So I have time to finish it, no problem.

I also decided to knit my Granddaughter a hooded sweater for this winter.  We don't really need COATS that much here in the desert and a hoodie is just perfect for our mild winters.  I took her with me to my LYS so she could pick out her yarn.  She is HIGHLY allergic to wool so her area to choose from was quite limited.  But she did find some really nice variegated yarn in pink, purple, yellow and cream.  I started on it last night and have 1/2 the hood already done.  It is made with worsted weight yarn so it is going pretty quickly.  I will be taking it with me this weekend to our retreat at our church.  I was going to take the baptismal gown but the parents of the baby are going to be there and I really ant that to be a surprise for them.  I should be able to make quite a bit of progress on the sweater this weekend and hopefully will be able to function well enough on Sunday to post pictures of both items.

No, these items are not on my YoP but then we all know that there are times when our knitting has to take a bit of a turn around this time of year so we can complete items that are needed.  All of my YoP's have been placed on hold until these two items are completed and sewn together and ready to be given to their respective owners.

Happy Crafting!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Just a thought

I have 'met' so many wonderful people in the blogging world.  My thought was.............If you know you are going to be traveling somewhere and there is one of your bloggers friends there, would you try and contact them to get to meet them in 'real life'?

I have often wondered about this.  I have people on my blog list from all over the world and not that I will be doing international travel in the next few weeks or anything.  But if I did, would they be receptive to meeting me?

I know I would love it if someone whose blog I followed and they followed mine would contact me if they were going to be in my area.

There is a blogger in the Washington State area that I would love to meet (Kim) and I do have family up there that I would really like to go and visit soon.  There are bloggers on the east coast that are close to areas that I love to visit and would love to meet up with them and get to know them better. (Marie, Evelyn)  Is that a kosher thing to do or not?

How do you feel about it?

And for Ruth in Ireland.......................that destination is on my bucket list and I would love to come there just to see your beautiful country sides and enjoy the fresh clean are of the country.  So would it be upsetting to you if I were to try and meet you and really get to know you a bit better?  Don't worry, it will not be for a few years yet.  LOL

Of course if I ever get my wish and go to Canada there is a whole bunch of bloggers up there that I would love to meet up with.  But then there are enough LYS there that I would probably run into about half of them there.

So let me know........................If you were coming to the Phoenix, Arizona area, would you contact me so we could meet up?  And if I were coming to your area would you want to know about it or have me keep it a secret?

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Finishes


Well, it is that time when I can honestly say I have completed two projects off my YoP list.  I am so happy about it.  As you all know we took a trip last week and I was taking some of my YoP items to work on while on the 5.5 hour drive.  Turns out I did 90% of the driving so not much got done on the road.  However, after we returned from the trip Hubby and I managed to bring back a nasty bug with us so we were both under the weather for the past week.  That meant that we stayed home a lot and so lots of work got done on the YoP.  So here we go.

First up, the Color Affection Shawl.  This actually got done just before we left on the trip.  I am not really very fond of it so think I might give it away to our prayer shawl ministry at the church.


I do like the colors but don't like the way it fits.  I am a bit old fashioned when it comes to shawl and am not much into the thin ones that are super duper long.  But I am sure there is someone out there that is in need of some comfort from this really really soft shawl.

Next up is the Cancer Ribbon Shawl.  This has been sitting in my project bag for about 3 years and I finally got around to finishing it.  I did take this with me on the trip and did manage to get about an hour of crocheting done on it.  I worked on it continually since Monday and finally finished it Saturday night.


This one is going to the prayer shawl cancer ministry at our church.  They are always in need of shawls to give to people.  I am just glad to have it completed and out of my house.

So last night, after I finished the shawl I cast on the second sock with the Panda Cotton yarn.  I don't want to have second sock syndrome.  I only got about 1/2 inch done on it before I realized I really needed to get some sleep.

I have updated my YoP to reflect where I am at on my list.



Year Of Projects 2012-2013

Use up all cotton yarn for dishcloths 
Complete 3 project bags
Complete LaLa Shawl
Complete Summer Garden Tee
Frilly scarf
2 blooming pillows
Use up 1/2 of sock yarn

Finished items

1 project bag (September 2012)
2/3 of cotton yarn (August 2012)
Complete Comfort Cancer ribbon shawl (October 2012)
Complete Color Affection Shawl (October 2012)

I think the biggest challenge for me is using up 1/2 of the sock yarn.  I know making shawls is the easiest way to do that but they take a looooong time to complete when they are knitted and crocheting with fingering weight yarn is not something I treasure doing either.  I will persevere though and keep on keeping on.

Hubby and I are doing much better and I actually have a voice again today.  We both are still coughing a bit and blowing a bit but nothing like we were last week.  And as for our trip to Las Vegas.......................it was a great time and we enjoyed ourselves.  We visited family while there and gambled (just a bit) (Eyes rolling) and had good food and celebrated our 37 years of wedded bliss with lots of laughter and just being together and having fun.


I want to thank my hubby for taking the pictures of the shawls for me.  Everyone always tells me to take them in natural light.  Did you notice the bright blue skies?  I want you to know that we are hitting 88 degrees F today and will be that way for the rest of the week.  Winter does not come to the desert until around December and January.  And yes, it is still sunny and bright out even during our winters here.

I would like to ask all of you to please remember all those on the east coast who are being affected by Super Storm Sandy.  I have several family members over there and they are hunkering down for the storms to hit.  I pray they will remain safe.

Until later........................

Happy Crafting!

Sunday, October 14, 2012



Another Sunday and I am able to post another update.  Not a lot to show for this week but I did finish the first sock even done on DPN's.  I think it turned out really pretty good and I didn't even mind grafting the toe.  In fact it was kind of fun for me.

I have not cast on the second sock as of yet and am not sure I will do it before my road trip this week.  I have so many WIP's that really need to be done that are on my YOP list.  None of them are going to take a large amount of time.  I thought about taking them with me since we will be traveling by car and seeing how many I can get done on the trip up and back.

I have been working on my Color Affection shawl and was hoping to get that done before I left as it is the largest project that I have to finish up.  And by large, I mean in size not amount of work left on it.

I was going through my craft room the other day and discovered a sweater that I had started some time ago.  It is Spring Garden Tee and I took a class on it as I had never done a sweater of any kind before.  All I have left on it is the rest of the body of it and then I am going to do a lace edging on it that is the same as is on the sleeves.  It would be perfect to wear next spring but also right now with the temps in the morning in the 60's and the highs of the day in the upper 80's to lower 90's.  So I am going to add that to my YOP for the year too.

Other than that I have listed everything else that I truly want to accomplish this year.

So what do y'all think I should take on the road trip.  My several WIP's or cast on the socks and take them?

Happy Crafting!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

I'm Back





I really have great reasons as to why it has been three weeks since my last post.  Want to hear them?

1.  I was in Las Vegas the 20-26 of September for a medical conference.  I did not have access to internet and by the time I got home I was so tired and since it was only a few days away from the next time to post I decided to wait until then.

2. The next Sunday had me going to a baseball game (we lost) with my friends and family and by the time we got home I was dog tired and went to bed.  I could have posted during that week but we put a new program in at work and we were in training for 4 days and I was working up to 10 hours a day learning it.  So by the time I got home I would eat and go to bed.

Both of these reasons will make you understand why my crafting time has been kind of nil for the past couple of weeks.  The only thing I have worked on is my sock since I can take it everywhere with me.

 So this is where I am at on the sock.  I had thought it was going to be really hard to do the heel but found this is much easier than when I do toe up socks.  I did the eye or partridge heel and really enjoyed it.  

Since that is all I have on my blog for this week I decided to comment on the comments I had last time on my post.  I do not know every ones 'real' name so I will use the blog name to answer and comment to all of you that posted.

SAM I AM........ The shawl is being worked on 60" circulars.  And it is still all scrunched up on that.  As for working on DPN for the socks...................I have been making magic loop socks for about 4 years now and this is my first attempt on the DPN.  I do miss having both socks done at the same time but have enjoyed the portability of the one sock at a time.

MIND MY OWN STITCHES........... Thanks for compliment on the shawl.  I really need to take it back out and finish it.  Just with all the traveling and long hours I have not had the desire to take it out.  It is so large now and very cumbersome to take in and out of the project bag.  I am planning in finishing it before the end of the year though.  It has just started to cool off here in the desert so having it lay on my lap is not as big of a deal as it was in July, August and September.

JEN..................Thank you.................I was not sure about the colors when I picked them out.  The dark red really makes it all tie together for me anyway.  I had a color expert tell me once that red is really a neutral color and you can throw it into any color scheme and it works.

NAUGET BUFF...................The sequined yarn is very easy to work with.  Have not had any problems with splitting or with the sequins not 'working' right in the knit.  I have not tried to crochet with it but I don't think there would be a problem there either.  As for your Magic Loop....I never use anything less than 40 and that is doing 2 at a time.  I like the 47 but in the beginning it seems a bit long but when you turn the heels it makes it the easiest length to work with.

KATE...................Thank you!  Knowing that others out there love DPN's is nice to know.  Now I know who to go to when I have an issue with the little buggers.

FAITH................You go girl.  If you really have the desire to do socks on magic loop you will succeed.  Don't be afraid of it.  I found it quite easy to learn and since I didn't have anyone around to show me how I used books and UTube videos to show me how.  The sequin yarn is not the least complicated to work with.  GO FOR IT!

CAROLINE GRANGER.......................A BIG THANK YOU!  You made me smile and made my day.

EMMA.....................Thank you.  I have tons of variegated/self striping/self patterning sock yarn.  I Really want to get it used up as I would rather go to solids so patterning will show up better.

I hope I covered every one's comments from the last post.  If not I apologize.

I will be working overtime again next week but hope to be able to finish up the first sock next week.  I want to start on the second one right away.  I will be leaving town again on the 18th of this month but it is a road trip so the sock will go with me and I can have some uninterrupted knitting time during the drive.

Happy Crafting!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

I've got pictures!!!

 I told you last week that I would have some pictures this week and I do.  I am so glad too.  I know I love to see pictures when I read blogs and I assume others do too.  In fact one of my followers told me last week that she wanted pictures and I aim to please.


 Here is the photo of my first ever DPN sock.  I do enjoy doing it this way but I still like the magic loop method too.  So I am happy I have the option now.  This is going to be just a plain vanilla sock.  I didn't want to do anything too crazy for my first time plus the colors of the yarn seem to give it plenty of interest.  The yarn is Panda Cotton. 

 Here is the shawl I started with my sequined yarn.  It is interesting to work with and there is not a photo in the world that will do it justice.
Here is the Color Affection Shawl.  I am on the border and loving it more and more as it comes to a finish.  I still have about a 1.5 inches left on the border and then the grand bind off.

It has been very hectic at work so there has not been much knitting in the evenings as my hands are just too darn tired and sore to even think about picking up needles.  This will continue for the next month but I will do my best to at least try and finish a these three things in the very near future.

Here is how the list looks now:



Year Of Projects 2012-2013

Use up all cotton yarn for dishcloths 
Complete 3 project bags
Complete LaLa Shawl
Complete Comfort Cancer ribbon shawl
Complete Color Affection Shawl
Frilly scarf
2 blooming pillows
Use up 1/2 of sock yarn

Finished items
1 project bag
2/3 of cotton yarn

That is all for this week.

Happy Crafting!


Monday, September 10, 2012

Back on the wagon

I am back on the wagon with my YOP posting.  I had to take a couple of weeks off because of personal scheduling issues.

You want to hear about them?  Really?  How sweet of you.

August 24-26 saw hubby and I at a Marian Conference here in Scottsdale (Arizona).  It is a fantastic conference and we go every year that it is given.  We learn so much about our faith and take back a lot of knowledge.  It is also a time when I can take my knitting/crocheting with me and work on it.  This year I had told you I was going to take my cancer ribbon shawl to complete.  But alas, I realized I would be looking at the pattern all the time and I needed mindless knitting.  So I took cotton yarn with me and worked on dishcloths.   I only managed to get 3 1/2 done but that is more than when I left for the conference.

Then we hit September.  Hubby and I were very busy that weekend painting our family room ceiling (YUCK!) and the walls in there.  We have ordered our flooring and it should be here in a couple of weeks so we HAD to get the painting done first.  The ordering of the flooring and the painting took up the entire day AND night of Saturday.  Sunday we had Family day and I must say I have an amazing Family.  My son and his wife came over and helped us rearrange our family room (just the way I wanted it).  It took us a couple of hours to complete all that and then it was time for rest and relaxation.

Did I knit during that week...............kind of.  Remember that pretty red yarn I showed you the last time I posted pictures?  Well, I took y'alls advice and cast on the shawl.  I had done about 10 rows when I decided my gauge was way too small.  So I frogged it and went up 3 needle sizes.  I love the way it is turning out now and I have completed the first 3 sections of it.

This past weekend saw hubby and I at an EWTN family conference here in town (Phoenix).  It was FREE and absolutely wonderful.  It is only on the road every other year and we figured it will a looooong time before it comes back to Arizona.  We got to see lots of the folks we see on EWTN all the time and it was quite informative and educational.  I also got to knit during that conference.  Started working on a sock on double points!  This is my first attempt with socks on DPNs and so far so good.

I did manage to finish the other fingerless mitt and I have put on several rows on the CA shawl and should be able to finish that soon.  I only need about 20 more rows so that means 6 - 7 more hours on that.  LOL  So I am working through the stash and have accomplished a bit on my YOP list.

Next week I should be able to put up pictures and my list.

Happy Crafting !

Sunday, August 19, 2012

YoP I'm loving it

I am really loving this 2nd year of projects.  I seem to be much more organized this year and more focused on my list for the year.

This week did not see a whole lot of progress but I did do something on my list that has been sitting in project bag for the past 2 years.

This is a combination of patterns that I put together for my first ever fingerless mitt.  It was done on double point needles and this is the first time I have done a complete project on double points and I actually think I really am enjoying working with them.  I have started on the second mitt and should be finished this week yet.  That will take one item off my list for the year.

I did add to my stash this week.

Is this not the most wonderful yarn?  It is so soft and the sequins in it makes it totally ME!  I saw this on Jimmy Beans Wool Watcher and the prices was awesome.  I thought about it and then told myself that I could not buy it unless I had a pattern in with to make it.  So I quickly went onto Ravelry and started looking for shawl patterns for this weight of yarn.  I found "Dinner in the Eiffel Tower" and fell in love with all the lace and could just see this made into it.  So.........Now I am dying to put this on the needles but am waiting until I get a bit more of my YoP list completed before I start on something that is NOT on the list and I refuse to add to the list.

So here is a look at the list again:

Year Of Projects 2012-2013

Use up all cotton yarn for dishcloths  (should have 24-26 clothes when completed) (14 Done)
Complete 3 project bags (I have several bags labeled with the project they are to become)
Complete LaLa Shawl  (In progress)
Complete Comfort Cancer ribbon shawl (In progress)
Complete Color Affection Shawl (In progress and so close to being done)
Frilly scarf (In progress but not happy with it)
2 blooming pillows (1/4 done)
Use up 1/2 of sock yarn (Oh my, this could take a while)


Did I hear someone ask about the color affection shawl?  Well.....................I am on the finale part of it but...............................It takes me over 20 minutes just to do one row.  Hence the reason it is taking forever to do the 2" of edging that is in the pattern.  I think I have 3 rows of edging done at this point but it is going to take a bunch more than that to complete it.  I do love the way it is turning out but please be patient with me.  I will get it done but I just needed to work on something with a bit quicker gratification.  (fingerless mitt)


I ordered DPN's this week in sock sizes 0-3.  I think I am going to try my hand at doing socks on DPN's and see how I like it.  I got them from Knit Picks and I got the 5" needles as the 7" ones I am using now keep poking me in the tummy.  (stop laughing!)


This coming weekend we have a conference to go to.  It is Friday evening through Sunday evening.  This is one place I can take my crafts with me and work on them without being disturbed and no one cares.  So I will probably be taking my cancer ribbon shawl with me as I should be able to complete that while there.  If that gets completed then I will take dishcloths to work on since they are small and easy to carry.  At least that is the plan right now.


Until next time...............................


Happy Crafting!


PS:  I want to thank all of you that have been leaving comments for me.  I do read all of them and as some of you know I will reply via email if there are questions that need to be answered.




Sunday, August 12, 2012

YoP Sunday



Here we are again on a lovely Sunday morning.  I love this time of day.  Hubby is still sleeping, dogs are all fed and sleeping and I have some quiet time to myself to get my blog up to day and plan my day out.

I made progress this week and have some pictures to prove it.  So let's get started.

I am now ready to do the last step in the Color Affection Shawl.  I am excited to finish it (hopefully this week) and get it off the needles so I can concentrate on something else for a while.  This is not the worlds greatest photo because it is all scrunched up on a 60" circular.  Once it is done I will have someone hold it up and out so you can get a true idea of the fun of it.

Another dishcloth finished.  Once again done in Granny's Favorite Dishcloth pattern.  It is simple and mindless to do.  Although I do believe my favorite pattern is still the double hump and will go back to that on the next ones that I do.

Walking through Walmart I found an entire rack of this fiber for under $5!  I grabbed one so I could practice making the ruffled scarves with it.  I have a much more expensive skein that will be done once I get the hang of this.  I am thinking of taking this one out and trying to crochet instead of knitting it.  I am not real fond of the way this is turning out at this point.

I did manage to get a picture of the American Girl doll dressed in her red outfit.  I am suppose to tell you that this is McKenna and she is the doll of the year for 2012.  My Grand Daughter is so excited to have this one.  She received it from her Auntie/Godmother for her birthday.  Anyway I do know that the hat is a bit too small and the dress is a bit too big but she will not let me frog any of it to make it fit better.
I don't know how many of you have ever seen a dust storm also known to us as a haboob.  We get them quite often here in the desert and it is kind of neat to watch.  This was taken around 4 in the afternoon.  The sky gets dark, the wind starts blowing and then the dust comes in and covers EVERYTHING.  It can last anywhere from 2-3 minutes to almost half an hour.  This one lasted for about half an hour and then the rain came afterwards to make sure there was mud on everything.  The wind reached about 60 miles an hour with this one and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees once the rain hit.

Speaking of temperatures............................See this little wonderful number?  The time on the clock was 4:52 in the afternoon.  I took this picture and as soon as I snapped it the temperature went up to 121F.  So when I hear all of my blogging friends complaining about the heat I just shake my head.  To top this off, I had been sitting outside on the cement for an hour watching my grand daughter take her first swim meet lesson.  I finished my bottle of water in about 20 minutes and my clothes were plastered to my body from sweat (yes I SWEAT!) and my hair was totally drenched also.  So the next time you think it is hot, think about those of us that live in the desert and deal with this kind of heat yearly.  Not even our swimming pool can cool us off as the temp of the water is 97F!  Whenever I think about complaining about the summer temperatures I stop my self and thank God that I have a home with A/C and a comfortable bed to sleep in and then thank him for our men and women in the armed forces that are in much hotter and less comfortable conditions overseas.

Until next week......................................

Happy Crafting!





Sunday, August 5, 2012

Crafting and family

This post is picture laden and will include both my craft progress and my family time over the past week.  So sit back and relax.  I will do my craft progress in the first part so those of you who are only interested in that can skim through the rest of the blog to make your comments.  So let's get started.

Got another couple of dishcloths done.  The striped one on the right has already found a home with my mom.  She really liked the fact there is a loop on it to hang it up.  It is "grandma's favorite dishcloth" pattern.  The one on the left is another "double hump" dishcloth and is awaiting gift giving at Christmas time.

As for the doll clothes..........................I am once again a bad blogger.  I finished the red dress and made a hat, purse and shawl to match and failed to take a picture of the finished product.  I am hoping that the little girl will bring her American Girl doll over with her all dressed up in that outfit today.  If she does I will get a photo of it and post it next week.  So I managed to complete 2 tops, two skirts and the red outfit all in about 3 days.  Of course I was up until 11:30 the night before her birthday completing it and wrapped it all up and then remembered the camera.  Bad, bad blogger.

I worked a bit on the color affection shawl but not enough for you to notice in a picture.  I have about 8 more rows do to and then I will be in the final phase of it.  I will be happy to get it off the needles and more on to one of the other shawls that are patiently waiting to be finished too.  Not to mention the other projects on my YoP that need to be worked on pretty soon.

Ok, on to the family stuff.

We had a birthday this past week.  The pretty girl in the middle turned 7!  That is her with her Mommy and Grammie.  A pretty nice 3 generation picture if you ask me. 

This is her and my hubby who is called Pop Pop.  They have quite a relationship.  He has cared for her since she was born.  In fact he retired early from work just to be her 'playmate'.  He has loved every minute of it.

There were present to be opened.  This is the red outfit that I made for her American Girl doll.  I really want a picture if it on the doll!


We go to the same place every year for her family birthday party.  It is called Organ Stop.  There is a HUGE Wurlitzer organ there and they place all sorts of music.  So every year she dances with her daddy to some of the slow songs.  I think they both love this little daddy daughter time.



This is my mom.  We decided that last weekend we would have Christmas in July for her.


She had no idea what we had planned.  So she was pretty confused when we brought in a Christmas gift bag and a gave her a Christmas card.

She was absolutely thrilled though, when she saw the Kindle Fire inside.  She has been wanting one for some time now but they are so expensive.  We were going to get her one for Christmas this year as a family gift but my husband changed that.

This is my hubby.  He was recently in Las Vegas.  I had to clear that up before you thought we had slot machine in our home!  He was sitting quietly at Barley's watching a baseball game on TV when he heard that there was going to be a drawing for all those playing slots.  So he put some money in the slot machine and started playing when he looked up he saw that he was a winner of a brand new Kindle Fire.  He was amazed.  So he called me to tell that he had just gotten Mom's Christmas present!

And if you must know...............................yes, he also won $$$ on the slot machine.  It was a great day for him.

That is all the news for now from here.

Happy Crafting

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Progress the hard way

  I did  make progress this week.  It was not the way I would have liked to do it.  I ended up taking 2.5 days off work with a nasty case of bronchitis.  As we all know there is NOTHING on the TV during the day so there really was not much that I could do, with out having coughing spasms, other than work on some fibery goodness.

First off..................I worked quite a bit on my color affection shawl.

I was not sure I was going to like the colors in it but it is growing on me now.  I am more than half way through the second part of the shawl and am looking forward to getting that done and on to the third part (which is the end of it)  I did it all in sock yarn and really am glad that went ahead and chose one of the variegated yarns to put in it.  Next time I am considering just using nothing but variegated for the whole thing.  I have several variegated that complement each other and some of you have suggested trying that.

There is a little girl that has just received her first American Girl Doll.  (this would be my grand daughter)  Her birthday is this coming Wednesday and since she really is not in 'need' of anything I decided to crochet up some clothes for said doll.  This is my first time at doing doll clothes and am loving it.  They are quick and easy to do.  This is a red dress that is still in progress and may have to frogged as it seems to be a bit large for the doll.  It is Red Heart Shimmer yarn and since it is raining outside I had to take indoor photos of it.  But this is a very faint gold thread that runs through the entire yarn.  I am also going to make a shawl, hat, purse and shoes to go with it out of the white shimmer yarn.

This is just a little bolero for the doll.  It is made out of Rowan cotton DK weight.  It was the first piece I tried.  I need to get buttons for it yet and then it will be done.

Gotta love baby pompadour yarn with it's shimmer in it.  This is a skirt for the doll.

Here is a top and skirt out of baby weight yarn.

I am not looking forward to frogging the red dress but since it is suppose to be a party dress for the doll I want it to fit very nicely.  I only spent about 3 hours on it already and most of that was trying to decipher instructions.  I finally gave up and just went with what I wanted it to look like and dumped the pattern and made my own from a combination of several put together.

I am feeling much better now and am looking forward to today which is our family day.  I have some cooking to do for it but it is always an enjoyable day for all of us.  Today is also a special day that I can not disclose yet but stay tuned this week for an update. (and more photos)

Happy Crafting!