YOP Update

Hello all you good people.  It has been a while, again, since I posted here.  I have not been ignoring my blog.  I have been trying to get to the main computer in our house so I could do a proper update.  Ya know, with pictures and stuff like that?  So today, I have gotten a chance to get to my main computer and I am so excited.

First off, let me tell all my fellow YOP bloggers, I have been reading all of your blogs on my tablet.  I am impressed with the amount of creativity that is in our group.  I have a hard time commenting from my tablet, and for that I am sorry.  But know, I am reading and loving all the photos of craftiness and of the scenery that has been showing up on several of the blogs.

Well, onto what I have been doing.

I have been knitting.  Since the week after Christmas I have been burying myself in knitting and loving every minute of it.  I think retirement is going to be wonderful for me.  Yes, I still do household work and cook dinner each night, but..................there are lots of stolen moments when I can pick up my needles and do a few rows in between all the chores.  After dinner is over, I sit quietly with my husband and knit while he plays the TV.  We are getting into a nice little routine.

I do have a finished item:

Please pardon the cruddy picture.  A photographer I am not and have never claimed to be. This was my first finish of the new year.  They are my car socks (again) and made with Naked Sock yarn in the color Castle LIght.  The purple is really almost a neon purple in this and the photo does not do it justice.  I have made some adjustments to the original pattern. Having done other sock patterns, I take what I like from each and incorporate that into this pattern.  On these, I made the heel flap 2 inches long.  It seems to give a better fit for my ankle and foot.  The heel that is on this orginal pattern is my all time favorite and I have used that heel on other patterns.

On my needles now is:

Another pair of Snoqualmie Fall Socks.  These are for me.  I was so hoping the stripes would match on these and they started out great, but then I came across an area where the factory had spliced yarn together and that threw off the whole striping sequence.  Oh well, I will have shoes on and I will be the only one to know.  I started these on Thursday and plan on having them done yet today.  This is the fastest pattern I have ever knit.  Normally, it takes me almost 3 weeks to complete a pair of socks and these will be done in about 3 1/2 days.  The yarn is Diversity by Plymouth in the colorway Denim.  This is a memory yarn and it is so soft and fun to work with.  I have to remind myself to loosen my tension up with this yarn though.  Memory yarns need a looser tension.

I have also started doing all my socks in magic loop again.  My tension is a bit tighter in magic loop and truer to the gauges asked for by most patterns.

After I finish these socks, I am going to cast on a pair for my hubby.  He has been asking for another pair and I have promised him that he is next.  I will do his two at a time so I make sure they are identical in length.

I have not really worked on much more than socks.  I did work on my Daughter's log cabin blanket for a few days but got bored and put it back in my UFO pile.  

I looked at my list from the beginning of this years YOP and am kind of impressed.  Let's take a look see:

2015-2016 YoP list

Socks

Once again I can not tell you how many I will do.  But these are my favorite items to do during the hot summer months here in the desert.  I do know that I need to have 2 pair completed before Christmas as they are gifts.  I already have 1/2 of one pair done and have started on the other pair this week, just to get them on the needles for the road trip.

5 pair completed so far

Shawls

Diving In  (this is already cast on, also for the road trip)

Clapo-ktus

Diving in is in my UFO pile and Clapo-ktus is still in the thinking process

SWEATER

Cancun Boxy Lace Top

After I frog the sweater I started, this is what it is going to turn into.  It even asks for the fiber that I already have in my stash.  But I will be making this longer, as at my age, no one wants to see my tummy.

This is also in my UFO pile.  Probably should get it out before the hot weather hits so I can wear it this year

Sewing items

Tea Bag Holder

Another gift for Christmas this year

Finished a few days before Christmas and it is loved and being used

Crochet

Mermaid Tail Afghan

I have had a request for at least 2 of these for Christmas.  Now that I am not on yarn restriction, I can purchase the fiber for this and get going on them.

She loves her tail, although it took her a few minutes to realize what it was.

Wood Work

Staining and decorating treasure box for Wedding in October

Done and done..................the box and the wedding.

I think I have done fairly well this year.  I did not cram my list full as I have done in the past and for that I am thankful.  I will be casting on hubby's socks today sometime and will have those as we take another road trip this week.  So I will be looking for a pattern that is kind of easy but not boring so it can be memorized quickly.  I really don't want to do another pair of car socks for him.  So off to the patterns in Ravelry to see what I can find and download to my tablet.

I will not be on here next weekend, so until next time...............Happy Crafting!

Last YOP for 2015

This is being written on my tablet as getting on the main computer is hard sometimes.  Hubby reads all his news on it and by the time he is done........I am not in the mood to do a blog post.   So I don't have my graphics on the tablet.  I am going to see if I can correct that soon.

Anyway............I hope those of you that celebrate Christmas had a very blessed one.  Those that celebrate other holidays during this month (winter soltice, Hanukkah, Kwanza etc), I hope your time with family and friends was wonderful.

I have not really been doing much knitting.  I got very sick last Sunday and finally went to urgent care on Wednesday.  Got medicine for my yuckies and FINALLY, yesterday I felt like me again.  Yea!

I did finish the sock on my needles and started her sister sock.  Got just past the ribbing. I also started a dishcloth.  Went to get one out a few days ago and they were all in the wash.   Other than that, no craftiness here.

I did get grandaughter's dresser and closet cleaned out.  She had outgrown 80% of the clothes we had here for her.

Lots of people and activities going on this week.  Not expecting much more knitting to be done before next year.

Happy Crafting!

Finish Line

Never again.  That is all I can say about homemade Christmas presents.  The worse part is........it was my idea.  I have already told my family, if I ever suggest this again.......tell me to stff it.

I finished the last homemade gift last night around 7pm.  Funny thing is......it was the first gift idea I had.  It was kind of fun in a way.  It did challenge all of our creative juices.  I normally only work with yarny goodness, but these projects saw me bringing out  my sewing machine too.  I helped our granddaughter with beading and woodcrafting also.  So lots of different skills used this year.   I did find out that yarn crafting is still my all time favorite.   It's portable, for the most part, can be done while enjoying family and friends, and is almost hypnotic when the needles are clicking or the hook is swooshing.

Now that all the gifts are done, I will be getting back to all my WIPs that have been screaming at me for the last six months.  I have socks, a shawl, a sweater, a blanket and a doll all waiting to be picked up and loved again.  I organized my sock yarn this week, as I found a smokin' deal on my favorite sock yarn and ordered 5 skeins of it.

Speaking of smoking. ........one month smoke free I am!  It really hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.  Knitting and crocheting have been my best friend through it.  Plus, we never smoke in our house and it's a bit chilly outside right now.  So I stay nice and warm inside all day.

Ok, I need to sign off here.  I am taking my best friend for an MRI today and she is so claustrophobic, she has to be on heavy medicine to get her into the OPEN machine.  So I will drive her there and back and hold her hand during the test.  Taking socks with me to work on.  Don't think they will let me take them in the room since I am using metal needles lol.

Have a great rest of your week.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Week 24 update

 Hello, all my friends, family and fellow crafters.  It has been a few weeks again since I have posted but I think most of you realize that this time of year seems to fly by so quickly.  Especially when you are trying to make deadlines for gifts for Christmas.

I have finished two items this week. 

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

 The American Flag.  Complete with 50 (count them) 50 stars.  The stars were hand sewn on after the completion of the rest of the flag.  Hmmmmm, it doesn't really look all that large in this photo.  Maybe if I told you it was laying on a queen sized bed, you could get a grasp of truly large this project was.  There is not one bit of mattress showing either.  So the flag is 6 feet by 5 feet (1.82 meters by 1.52 meters)  I will not be making another one of these....EVER.  Spacing the stars was the biggest pain in my neck.

Then there is the mermaid tail.  All sewn up and ready to be wrapped for gift giving.  I am not going to be able to make another one before Christmas.  Sorry baby god daughter.

I still have 3 gifts to make.  They are all sewn gifts so will be a nice change of pace from the needles and hooks.

I did complete the man socks also.  I did not take another picture of them.  Didn't see a need to, since you had already seen one completed.  The second one looks just like the first.

Today I have been getting my Christmas baking on.  I have just finished 9 gallons of Chex Party Mix.  One of our all time faves during the holidays.  I am getting ready to start on the Scotch Treats and then move to the fudge and our favorite German Cookies (peffernusse).  The fruit cake was done a couple of weeks ago and have been marinating it weekly in brandy.  No one in the family likes fruit cake other than hubby, my mom and myself.  Lots of fruit cake for the 3 of us this year.  I also made the Rolo Pretzel bites a couple of weeks ago and have them in tins in the fridge so they don't disappear before we have company arrive.

Ok, I am off to do more baking and get my laundry taken care of.  It will be a very busy next 2 weeks.  Hopefully I will be able to stop back by and post, but don't worry if I don't.  I will be here for sure after Christmas.

Happy Crafting!!!

Moving right along

What a week I have had.  It was very productive but not because I planned it that way.  I was forced to lay low until Thursday last week.  I had some teeth extracted on Monday and was not allowed to do much of anything for the first 3 days post operative.  So what is a crafter to do?

Craft!!!!

I was able to complete a few items and make some good headway on others.  Of course, I do have pictures for you.  But please excuse the cruddy photography.  I used my cell phone and was kind of in a hurry to take the photos before people came in and saw their gifts all laid out.

These are the man socks I have been complaining about for the past month and a half.  This person has large feet and it takes a 100 gram skein of sock yarn for each sock.  It also takes me forever to complete one.  I still have about 2.5 inches to go before starting the toe on sock number 2.  I will be glad when they are off the needles.  Don't think I will be making this person another pair anytime soon.

The American Flag..............this baby is six feet long and already 3 feet wide.  I have 4 more stripes to put on it and then sew all 50 of the little stars on the blue.  It is a pretty quick crochet but once again it has been in the 80's the past few days so this is on the back burner again until it cools down a bit.

Mermaid lapghan.  This was a really fun crochet and the girl it is for is going to love it.  I still need to attach the tail but other than that, it is completed.

Snoqualmie falls socks.  This has got to be one of the quickest knits I have done on a sock.  I think it is because each row is so different.  I truly loved this pattern and will be doing more of this one.

The only other gifts I have to complete for Christmas will be done on the sewing machine.  I have all the material for them and they are really quick projects, so I am not stressing about them.

I have other projects that I want to get to but until Christmas gifting is finished, they will have to wait.  

I talked to my daughter in law yesterday about this home made Christmas idea that we thought was so peachy last year.  We are both so burned out with it.  We have agreed that we can do homemade next year but only if we really find something that is perfect for the person.  Otherwise, we will be free to buy a gift that fits the person's needs.  

Normally, I make dishcloths each year and gift those to my friends (they even ask for them around August).  I like to make bed socks for my mom as she so loves them.  I make at least one pair of socks for someone during that time of year.  But I also like shop for special items that I know a person needs or wants.  This year, there are no dishcloths made at all.  I did get the bed socks made and as you can tell, I made other socks for gifts.  But there are a couple of people that are getting gifts that I hope they will love and will use.  It's not something I think they would normally ask for, but it is so close to Christmas and I have run out of brilliant ideas.  Especially for MEN!  So Pajama pants will be made soon and THEY. WILL. LOVE. THEM!

As for my oral surgery.................I am healing just fine.  I didn't even have much pain with it so that was a good thing.  Today, I am actually getting to eat food that is not mushy.  Still have to be a little careful as the sites are not completely closed yet, but it is almost there.  One good thing from all of this....................it forced me to quit smoking.  I have wanted to stop for some time now and today marks 1 week smoke free.  I don't even really miss it.  

OK, I need to get back to my Big Man Socks so I can move on to something else.

Until next time....................Happy Crafting!

YOP 19

Another week down and this time I have completed some things.  BUT........I haven't taken photos of them yet because I just finished them last night and I wanted to go to bed.  But, I can tell you about them.

I completed the crocheting of the mermaid tail.  I completed the Snoqualmie Falls Socks.  I am working on the American Flag Afghan and have cast on the second sock for the man socks.  Things are going well and I will have time this week to do more crafting on my gifts.  

I just realized, I have not even looked at my list since the day I posted it.......Let's take a little look and see where I am, OK?  My current comments are in RED

2015-2016 YoP list

Socks

Once again I can not tell you how many I will do.  But these are my favorite items to do during the hot summer months here in the desert.  I do know that I need to have 2 pair completed before Christmas as they are gifts.  I already have 1/2 of one pair done and have started on the other pair this week, just to get them on the needles for the road trip.

One pair is done and the other pair is half done and hoping to complete it in the next 2 weeks

Shawls

Diving In  (this is already cast on, also for the road trip)

It is still sitting at the bottom of my project bag waiting for me to complete all my gift crafting.  I really enjoy doing it also.

Clapo-ktus

Haven't even cast on for this yet.

SWEATER

Cancun Boxy Lace Top

After I frog the sweater I started, this is what it is going to turn into.  It even asks for the fiber that I already have in my stash.  But I will be making this longer, as at my age, no one wants to see my tummy.

Found this the other day and was so tempted to start back in on it....................but I am waiting until gift crafting is over.

Sewing items

Tea Bag Holder

Another gift for Christmas this year

I have the pattern and the material for this................It shouldn't take that long to complete (I hope)

Crochet

Mermaid Tail Afghan

I have had a request for at least 2 of these for Christmas.  Now that I am not on yarn restriction, I can purchase the fiber for this and get going on them.

Completed one of them..............don't know if I will be able to do the other one before Christmas.  Although the second one is a much smaller size.

Wood Work

Staining and decorating treasure box for Wedding in October

Done!!!!!  Both the box and the wedding!

So it doesn't look too bad.  Totally doable by the end of this years YOP.

Until next week...........................Happy Crafting.

YOP week 18

Happy All Saints Day!  I am back to my normal self as of about 5 minutes ago.  The last of our out of town guests has been taken to the airport.  The wedding is over and it was beautiful.  My shawl got finished by the skin of my teeth.  So I am ready to start back into my Christmas crafting.

Let's take a look at my past week.........................Monday & Tuesday were spent getting linens washed and placed on beds.  Dusting and mopping happened as did making sure there were items in the guest bath that might be needed by our guests.  We also had to clean up the remainder of our remodeling items and get everything put away.  Not much knitting got done those days.

Wednesday morning.............................early morning......................our first guest arrived. Our son from Texas came in.  So, Wednesday was spent catching up with him and what was going on in his life.  I did get some knitting done but not as much as I needed.

Thursday, our daughter and her mother (yes, I am a Step Parent) needed to come over and use my sewing machine to make adjustments to daughters wedding dress.  Her mother had made the dress just from the measurements she was given over the phone.  Daughter lives in Arizona and mom lives in Washington State.  So they were here for 3 hours doing the adjustments.  I tried to knit, but as I was doing lace work, it seemed every time I was getting my groove on, they needed me to help pin or hold parts of the dress.  After they left it was petal to the metal to complete the shawl.  I did not make it as large as the pattern (and I am glad I didn't)  I completed it, soaked it and blocked it and got done about 2 on Friday morning.

This is how it turned out.

It is 100% silk and was the slipperiest item I have ever knit.  It was light and just what I needed for the day of the wedding.  I had a choice of making it curved on the bottom or points.  Guess which one I went with.

So today I will get back to my socks for a while.  Our Daughter is bringing her cute little dog over for us to babysit while they take a mini honeymoon at a resort here in the area.  That means I will need to kind of watch my male dog with her as he is extremely jealous of any dog that might take some of my time away from him.

So the wedding...............................it was lovely and I have a couple of shots to give you the flavor of it.  First off, let me tell you that my new Son In Law is a crafter.  He loves to sew.

He made his Kilt for the wedding as well as the vest.  He also made the grooms men their kilts and vests too.  Granted, he is not wearing the traditional socks with the kilt.  These two are a bit of comic con geeks so he is wearing superman socks.  Each of his grooms men had different super hero socks too.  This was the couples first dance together.

The next photo made me cry.................................

This is her and my hubby (her father) dancing to Jennifer Juniper.  It is the song my husband named her after.  Her middle name is also from a song he loved at the time "Michelle"  As he danced with her he sang the song to her.  Quite touching.

So after the wedding, we all rushed home and got changed and went trick or treating with our grand daughter.  We had a blast but boy was I one tuckered out MiMi by the time I got home at 10:30 last night.  This morning was even worse as the first trip to the airport was mine to do and it was at 4 this morning!  Then I got home and got hubby up and we went to 7AM Mass.  He is now taking the last guest to the airport and we are done for the day.

So I will close for now and got and pick up my needles and work on the Snoqualmie Falls Sock that is darn near finished.  It should be done by the end of the week and the second man's sock will be cast on.  I am doing pretty good with the Christmas list so I am not in panic mode.......................yet.  Still have 2 afghans to complete but it is still darn near 90 degrees here and I am melting below them.  Maybe in a couple of weeks I can get back to them.

Until next week......................Happy Crafting!