Starting off great!

It has been so long since my last post.  This will be a double entry again.  The first part will be about my craftiness (or I think it is crafty) and the second part will be about my personal life.

So let's get started.  I have pictures to show and am so proud of what I have accomplished in the past 3 weeks. 

Here is the scarf I did for Josie. It is a drop stitch pattern that I kind of made up as I went along.  It is a very quick knit and I love it for scarves.  I made this same one for my Daughter and it only takes a few days to make a really long scarf with this pattern.

As I told you before my Daughter and I are gifting each other something that we would like to be made for us for the next year at Christmas.  This is the pattern of the comfort shawl she picked out for me to make for her.  It is made with a yarn called Dainty Lace and is a mohair blend.  I must be very careful while doing it as if I need to frog it.....................well it will not be pretty.  You can not see it in the picture but it has a very furry texture to it.

Here is another shot of it.  I know once it is blocked it will be much prettier.  I am almost half done with it.  I am trying to get it finished before our summer hits here.  That mohair is a bit warm on my lap.  My biggest concern is.................this was a kit she bought.  I think I am going to need at least one more skein of the yarn.  I am suppose to do 11 repeats of the pattern.  I am on repeat #8 for the first side and have used 3/4 of the skein.  Lucky for us the place she bought it carries individual skeins of the yarn.  We will see what happens.

This is not the greatest picture but this is the man's Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood.  I love this pattern and do it in the magic loop method.  The yarn is Impeccable by Loops and Threads.  This is one great yarn to work with.  It is an all acrylic yarn but knits up so nice and doesn't split.  I have used this a lot for winter wear for all of my family that lives in the southern/west part of the USA.  The northern family gets wool wear.  Since it gets so much colder up there.

Here is a skein of yarn given to me by my Hubby for Christmas.  It is the one where it makes a ruffly scarf and one skein does it.  I am excited to start on it but have way too much on my needles and hooks to even think about doing this.  Plus, this will be for ME!

Hubby also got me this lovely Sidar Snuggly yarn.  It says to use a size 3US needle for it.  So it must be between fingering and baby weight yarn.  It is so soft and lovely.  I have no idea what I will make with it yet but will enjoy every moment working with it.

Hubby also got me a nice gift certificate to my LYS as well as signed me up for a class making cuff down magic loop socks.  I have been doing toe up for several years now and am looking forward to learning the other method.  Then I will have my choice of which way I do them.  And before you ask.......................yes I have done the Kirtchner close before and I have no fear of it.  In fact I find it rather easy to do.

I refuse to go shopping the day after Christmas.  It is such a mad house out there but..............Michael's had a huge yarn sale and I had already made out my list of what I was going to make next year for gifts for family and friends.  So off I went.  I got 13 skeins of the Impeccable yarn for hats, scarves and a lovely vest.

There are 4 skeins of Patons Stretchy sock yarn and 22 skeins of Red Heart Shimmer.  I am looking to make some vests with the shimmer too.  I have one pattern and have my eye on another over at Ravelry.  It is called Greta and I thing the shape of it will be wonderful on any body type or size.  And believe me..................we have them all in my family and circle of friends. 

 Since Grand Daughter has learned to knit so well I took her shopping and got her a tote and some yarn.  I also got her some bamboo circular needles of her own (this way I can have mine back!)  She was so excited.  I let her pick out the yarn and holder.  Do you see a color preference here?

I have also updated my YoP list and here it is.  Notice that I have not deleted anything or added anything to the list.  Just updated what was going on with it.

Log cabin lapghan (when ever) Knitted  (in progress)
Hexipuff (one a day for as long as it takes) Crochet (on hold for the moment)
Mittens for Jenn .  Knitted (have the yarn)
LaLas prayer shawl (when ever) Knitted ( in progress) For Christmas 2012
Cancer Ribbon Shawl (when ever) Crochet ( in progress)
Alpaca/Silk Prayer Shawl Crochet (in Progress for Christmas 2012)

4 blooming pillows (Have the yarn) Crochet for Christmas 2012

4 – 8 pairs of socks (Have the yarn) Knit for Christmas 2012

2 hats and 3 scarves for men.  Knit for Christmas 2012 knit (Have the Yarn) (one set in progress)

  Knit or Crochet for Christmas 2012 (Have the Yarn)

Comfort Shawl (in progress)  Christmas 2012/ Crochet

 Here is the list of things that are finished:

****Finished******
Hat and Scarf (November gift)  Knitted (finished July 2011)

 Scarf for Jadin (by October 10th) Knitted  (finished October 2011)

Wedding Ring Afghan (finished in October 2011)

 Bedsock (Christmas) Crochet or knitted, haven't decided (Finished October 2011)                

 Hat for Josie (Finished October 2011)

wedding ring afghan (Christmas) Crochet (Finished in December 2011)

Bedsock(Christmas)  (Finished November 201

Scarf for Jenn (Finished December 23^rd!!  2011)

Scarf for Josie (Finished December 26^th 2011)

One man’s hat (Finished January 2012)

OK, if you don't care want to read about my 'life' outside of crafting than you may stop now.  But I want to let you know there are some dynamite pictures to follow.  Here we go..........................

Here is our Grand Daughter all ready to go to her Advent Program at Church.  I spent a lot of time curling her hair for this event.  Let me say it looks so much better here than it did by the time she got up to sing with her class.  Her hair does not hold a curl no matter how much hairspray and product you put in it.  If anyone had lit a match around her, her hair would have exploded.

Now this is more like what we are use to seeing.  Well maybe not exactly.  Actually this is how we were greeting upon entering her house for Christmas.  Yes, the antlers light up!  She cracks us up.

Christmas Day is also my mother's birthday.  So we have Christmas all morning and then once we have our main meal of the day we celebrate her birthday.  She was 84 this year and I think she looks marvelous.  She too is a knitter and lover of beading, needle point and counted cross stitch.  She can not crochet and has tried many times.  She just doesn't get it and that is fine.  She does lovely work on other things.

Hubby and I had a HUGE surprise this year.  We were visited by our oldest Grand Daughter.  We had not seen her in 7 years.  She is a beautiful young lady and we so enjoyed our time with her.  She came right after Christmas and stayed with us for 3 days.  It was one of the best 3 days ever.  She is smart, funny, pretty and VERY petite.  I took an outline of her feet and hands so I can make her gloves and socks.  She was very excited about that.  She lives in Kansas so I think she will get quite a bit of wear out of all of that.  I also got her clothing size so if for some strange reason I really get on a clothing kick I can make her a sweat/vest too.

I have been very blessed this past year and look forward to 2012.  Thanks to all my crafting friends who read my blog and comment on it.  Thanks to all my family/friends who tolerate reading my blog but never comment. (hint hint)

I must go and continue taking down the Christmas decorations (yes, I know it is the middle of January but I have been kind of lazy this year) 

Happy Crafting!

mini update

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I know we did and all the last minute crafting was worth every minute.  All the gifts were appreciated.

I do need to update my YoP list though.  I have gotten many things done and have added some other things to the mix.  I have already started on next years gift list and have even cast on a couple of items.

So here is the list of things to do in the next year:

Log cabin lapghan (when ever) Knitted  (have the yarn)
Hexipuff (one a day for as long as it takes) Crochet
Mittens for Jenn .  Knitted (have the yarn)
LaLas prayer shawl (when ever) Knitted ( in progress) For Christmas 2012
Cancer Ribbon Shawl (when ever) Crochet ( in progress)
Alpaca/Silk Prayer Shawl Crochet (in Progress for Christmas 2012)

4 blooming pillows (Have the yarn) Crochet for Christmas 2012

4 – 8 pairs of socks (Have the yarn) Knit for Christmas 2012

3 hat and scarf sets for men.  Knit for Christmas 2012 knit (Have the Yarn) (one set in progress)

Vest or Sweater for woman.  Knit or Crochet for Christmas 2012 (Have the Yarn)

Comfort Shawl (in progress)  Christmas 2012/ Crochet

 Here is the list of things that are finished:

****Finished******
Hat and Scarf (November gift)  Knitted (finished July 2011)

 Scarf for Jadin (by October 10th) Knitted  (finished October 2011)

Wedding Ring Afghan (finished in October 2011)

 Bedsock (Christmas) Crochet or knitted, haven't decided (Finished October 2011)                

 Hat for Josie (Finished October 2011)

wedding ring afghan (Christmas) Crochet (Finished in December 2011)

Bedsock(Christmas)  (Finished November 201

Scarf for Jenn (Finished December 23^rd!!  2011)

Scarf for Josie (Finished December 26^th 2011)

The comfort shawl is the gift my Daughter gave me for Christmas.  It is a lovely crocheted lace shawl made from a mohair blend.  She did not know it was mohair until she got the yarn in.  She was in a panic because I am allergic to wool.  It is only 30% mohair so not too bad.  I can get about 7 rows done before my nose starts to itch.  I will regift the shawl back to her next Christmas when she has something else to give me to do for her for the next year.  I gave her a lovely counted cross stitch to do for me.  I can not stand to cross stitch anymore and I did it for years.  But I find myself all tense and grinding my teeth while doing it now.  She feels the same way about knitting and crocheting.

I am sorry but I didn't get any pictures of all the finished items before they were whisked away on Christmas day.  But trust me everything that was finished was really lovely and well loved.

Happy crafting.

PS:  I hit Michaels the day after Christmas for their yarn sale.  I got TONS of yarn and have all the yarn I need for all the above listed projects.

Quit update

This will be short and sweet.

With just a week left until the day I have been madly knitting and crocheting for,  I am pleased to announce that I am DONE!  I have finished everything that I needed to complete for Christmas Day.

I made 14 of these quick and easy lip balm holders and each one has a lip balm in it.  These will be passed out to the folks at my office as well as some of my friends and family.

The afghan is finished too.  I didn't get a picture of it before I wrapped it but I will be able to take one on Christmas Day since we will be at the recipients house. 

If you follow my blog regularly you know that I have already started my list for knitting/crocheting projects for next year.  I have got to look at my YoP list and see how much I need to modify it now.


Here is what it looks like at this point.  I know there will be modifications as the year progresses.

Log cabin lapghan (when ever) Knitted  (have the yarn)
Hexipuff (one a day for as long as it takes) Crochet
Scarf and Mittens for Jenn (Christmas) Knitted (in progress)
LaLas prayer shawl (when ever) Knitted ( in progress) For Christmas 2012
Cancer Ribbon Shawl (when ever) Crochet ( in progress)
Alpaca/Silk Prayer Shawl Crochet (in Progress for Christmas 2012)
Scarf for Josie (In Progress)

4 blooming pillows (Have the yarn) Crochet for Christmas 2012

4 – 8 pairs of socks (Have the yarn) Knit for Christmas 2012

3 hat and scarf sets for men.  Knit for Christmas 2012 knit

****Finished******
Hat and Scarf (November gift)  Knitted (finished July 2011)

Scarf for Jadin (by October 10th) Knitted  (finished October 2011)
Wedding Ring Afghan (finished in October 2011)

Bedsock (Christmas) Crochet or knitted, haven't decided (Finished October 2011)                

 Hat for Josie (Finished October 2011)

wedding ring afghan (Christmas) Crochet (Finished in December 2011)

Bedsock(Christmas)  (Finished November 2011)

Cancelled Projects

Spiderman Blanket (Christmas) Crochet

Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Anyone else?

Now that I have almost all of my Christmas knitting/crocheting done I have already started looking at the folks I gift to each year and have started making a list of what I want to do for them this year.

Has anyone else started said same list?  I know it sounds like I am maybe getting too much ahead of myself but..........................I really don't want next year to be like this one where I am staying up until midnight every night for a month and only getting 5 hours of sleep.  Then I have to go to work on that 5 hours of work and be productive.  Not a very good thing for the office.

Of course this means that my YoP list will probably have to be changed up quite a bit.  I don't really care at this point.  I have found some lovely patterns that I truly have put names on.  So once the Christmas season is over I will update my list.  I would really like everyone in my family to receive at least ONE homemade item from me next year. 

BTW................I finished the afghan last night!  I was so happy to get that off my lap and go onto my lip balm cozies.  I still have about a dozen of them to finish before the big fat guy with the red suit comes to visit.  Each one takes about an hour to do (I am using sock yarn remember).  So if I could have 12 hours of crochet time between now and next Tuesday I will be all done with my Christmas stuff.  Did you all just look at your calendars?  I know Christmas isn't until next week Saturday (we celebrate on the 24th) but I have my secret santa party at work next Tuesday and some of these are for that party.

Better get back at it.

Happy Crafting!

Getting it done

I have lots of pictures again.  So hopefully you like photos with the posts.  I know I do.  These are not all of crafting.  But since this blog entertains those that craft and those that are family I decided to incorporate some of each in this post.

Since I am finding it harder and harder to post weekly with all the activities of the Advent season, and getting ready for Christmas.  I have put as much into this post as possible.  So enjoy!

First I will start with my crafting information.

I have finished the vest my daughter picked out.  She wants to wear this for Christmas Eve Mass yet didn't want something that screamed Christmas.  I used Caron Simply Soft yarn.  The pattern is Rosario from the Caron web site.  I used over 2.5 pounds of yarn for this.  Needless to say this is a VERY heavy vest.  She will be plenty warm in it too.

I am frantically making lip balm holders for some special folks for this Christmas.  I found the original pattern here.  I changed up the pattern just a little bit but it still turned out OK.  These go pretty quickly.  I am using sock yarn and a size 1 crochet hook.

I picked up the afghan again yesterday and am trying to get that finished so I can get it wrapped and ready to give away this Christmas.  That is what I am working on 99% of the time when I don't have certain people over to the house that I don't want to see it.

                                                                              

My grand daughter had a sleep over with us on Friday night.  Saturday morning she decided she wanted to learn how to crochet.  I tried, I really did.  But I am left handed and she is most definitely not.  I know I learned sitting in front of a righty but since she has not clue as to even how to hold a hook or yarn it just was not working out.  So........ I pulled out a size 10 circular needle along with some nice acrylic yarn and informed her she was going to learn how to knit.  I do knit right handed so there was no problem there.  So how did she do?

   I would say from the look of pride that she did quite well.  She managed to do 6 rows with a bit of help and was so excited when I told her to go ahead and take it home with her to practice.  I just might have another crafting partner very soon.

 Speaking of our Grand daughter...................Here she is last week with her two awards from school.  She got her independent reader award and also her student of the month award.  From left to right back row are:  GiGi (my mom), Josh (her daddy), Jenn ( my daughter), Me, Joe (hubby who helps support my craft habits), front row; Josie and Stacie (mommy). 

Now onto more photos of the interior of our home decorated for Christmas.  I don't know if you knew it or not, but my husband collects Nativity Sets.  So the following is all the Nativities set up in our family room.

I will let you know that we did have books in all those book shelves.  They are now sitting on the floor of our spare bedroom.  This year we were smart and marked on the stacks of books which case they came out of and what shelf they were on.  It will make putting the books back much easier.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!