Sock It To Me...Continued

Well, it definitely was an earthquake I felt last night...kinda weird more on that here.

Ok, where was I? Ah, yes, I was going to tell you about the yarn in my mailbox. Some of you may have noticed that I've added Google Adsense to my blog. One of the first banners to run was for Ozeyarn. I know I'm not supposed to click on my own banner but I couldn't resist. I'm glad I did, too because I filled out the form to receive a free sample card and it came yesterday 1 week and 1 day after placing the "order". What I thought was cool was that it came all the way from Australia. I look forward to doing business with this company. Money's tight at the moment so for now I can sit here and pet my new yarn samples...beautiful stuff too!!

My neighbor and I are having a semi-impromptu yard sale Saturday. I'm hoping to make enough money to buy yarn for some afghans or at least some gas to get to the yarn store. Sad thing is I'm having to sell a bunch of yarn from my stash. That was a bit painful, I just hope it will be worth it. We'll see.

Sock It To Me!

Several months ago I purchased Crochet Socks! 16 Fun-To_stitch Patterns from Amazon. I really like this book, the instructions are easy to follow, the pictures are good, and the patterns are cool (ie I would actually wear them). My only complaint is that I can't figure out which directions I should follow for the size I need. I wish that part was a little more clear. Each pattern gives the dimensions for the finished sock, but not which dimensions fit a particular size foot. Does that make sense? Here's an example, you know how in patterns they are sometimes written something like this: sc in each of next 5 (5, 6, 6) sc. I understand that for the particular size I need, I would need to follow one of those four numbers. However, my problem with this book is that I'm having trouble figuring out which number to go with. I realize that the sizes get bigger as you read from left to right. This wouldn't be a problem for me if like, I said before, the dimensions of the finished product weren't presented at the beginning of the pattern like this: Cir of leg (unstretched) 7 1/4 (8, 8 1/2, 9)". How do I know which size would fit my big ol' foot correctly? I'd rather have the finished dimensions along with something like this: Women's shoe size 5 (6, 7, 8, 9. etc) Men's shoe size..... you get the idea. That would be much easier on my poor brain. I'm sure that if I go back and read the beginning of the book again the answer will pop out at me and scream "you moron!!" I just don't have the gusto at the moment to do that. I started several socks from this book but have had to frog everything for various reasons. My latest trouble has come from a pattern requiring slip stitches around the body of the sock, but then it says to switch to a bigger hook and I just can't get the bigger hook into the smaller hooks stitches without a lot of finessing. So my easy, relaxing little project has turned into something a little less so. I wanted something fairly mindless and easy before I dive into the Christmas gift afghans I've been planning. Maybe I'm thinking too much any way.

What a glorious mail day for me!! Not only were there ZERO bills in my mailbox, but there was a RAOK and some yarn!!! First off, the RAOK!! The sweetest little bunny rabbit hopped his way into my box all the way from Illinois!! No, not a real live one but a real live origami bunny. Thank you so much Maryellen, he is living happily beside my peace crane courtesy of Julia.

Holy crap I think we just had an earthquake!! I'll finish this post later.....

See, Crochet IS Sexy!

Today, the latest catalog for both Newport News and Boston Proper arrived in my mailbox. Big props to these people. They have had the most beautiful crocheted items I've seen. Here are a few that caught my eye from Boston Proper. Click the picture for a description and closer view of details.

I can't see any reason to buy something, especially at that price, that I could make myself. However this catalog has done wonders for my creative side and provided tons of inspiration. Just thought I'd share. Check out the crocheted items at Newport News as well, just type "crochet" into the search field. I would have provided some pictures from there but they weren't very good quality. The pics in the catalog were much more beautiful.

That's about as much crocheting as I've done in awhile. I've just been thinking about it so there are no exciting tales here of any works in progress...sorry.

My Q's Need Some A's...Care To Chime In?

As the title of this blog might suggest, to say that I love yarn would be an understatement. However, I am still embarrassingly ignorant about some things concerning yarn. So, I pose these questions to all you yarnies out there...

• These are called hanks, no? {photo found here via them}
• How does one go about getting yarn to twist on itself to create a hank?
• Can one knit or crochet directly off a hank or does it have to be wound?

Ok, I think that is all I have for now. I will ask more questions as they come to me, and I'm sure they will. Thanks in advance for any help.

I was inspired by the idiosyncrasies meme to create my 100 list. You know, the 100 things about me list. I've been meaning to create one for awhile. I love reading other people's lists. I'm curious like that.....notice I didn't say nosy. Check mine out if you wish. The link is over there in the sidebar. You can't miss it.

Take care and have a great day/night!!

I Drew A Blank As To What To Title This Post So I Typed This Instead

Thanks goes to Lynlee for tagging me. However, I think I'm going to stop this meme here. If you would like to be tagged leave a comment saying so or just go ahead and do it without being tagged. I don't think there will be any serious repercussions for doing so.

id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

1. My house/environment has to be clean before I can start on any kind of project whether it's indoors or out. I'm not very good at maintenance cleaning (sometimes) so I don't often start new things. I'm not really a slob and I do enjoy cleaning, but if I'm going to clean something I'm going to go balls out with it. Like the saying goes, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right".
2. I have to shower before doing anything productive even if what I'm going to do is dirty. Gardening, woodworking, washing car, etc.
3. My closet door must be closed before I can even think about sleeping.
4. I smoke and I have a little ritual that I do with a new pack of cigarettes. First I pack them down until the tobacco is at least a quarter inch below the paper. Then I brush off all the excess tobacco from the filter. Next I take the middle cigarette from the top row and turn it upside down making it my "lucky cigarette". Finally I smoke the cigarette that is in the same position on the bottom row. Don't ask me why I guess it's just part of the habit.
5. I am also a counter. I count stitches in crochet which don't need to be counted; steps taken, tick tocks of a turn signal, etc. I don't do it all the time or else I'd drive myself crazy!

After completing this list I think I sound really anal, but I'm not at all. At least I don't think I am.

Moving Along...

I have a few thank yous to extend. I received 2 ecards in the past few days. One was from Anastacia..very cute card. Not sure if it was from the Fiber RAOK ring or Crochetville but it was totally appreciated. The other card was from Juli from the Fiber RAOK ring. I had a good laugh. Thank you, ladies. The time you spent picking out and composing was well worth it and sincerely appreciated. You rock!

I was in the grocery store the other day and decided to buy myself the latest issue of Crochet! magazazine. Usually crochet magazines bore me or make me laugh or make me want to puke. This one did none of the above. This is the second issue I've purchased in my crocheting career. The first one did nothing for me but this one is pretty good. I'm in the mindset where I want to crochet myself a sweater. My quest for the perfect pattern has left me empty handed and disappointed. That was until I flipped through this magazine. I've found my sweater!! It's called Hydrangea Clusters. An aside to the crochet designers out there...while the name for the previously mentioned sweater is better than some, I implore you, challenge you, to be creative. Take note from the knitters out there. They have exciting names for their creations. If I were a knitter I might buy/try some of these patterns because the names inspire me. Just a thought. At any rate as soon as I get my hands on 1632to 1904 yards of 100% cotton light sport weight yarn I'll be off with no looking back!!

no use for a name

I've been tagged for a meme by lynlee and I promise that tomorrow it will be up...I know you just can't wait. I also have a few shout outs and thank yous due. I would do it now like I had intended but it's late and my fingers and butt bone are voicing their opinions on the contrary. And so to bed I go. Sweet dreams.

Hooha!!

Well, looky looky I'm alive and well after all!! My crocheting as slowed a bit as the temperature rises and my motivation plummets. However I do have a project on my hook. I'm making a huge doily. It's the same pattern I used for my Mother's Day offering to my mother. I'm using an H hook and Aunt Lydia's "Denim" crochet cotton thread or something like that. Things are going smoothly but I don't work on it very regularly. It will live on my kitchen table when it is complete.

My trip to the mailbox yesterday proved exciting...I was RAOK'd!!! There was a lovely little peace crane waiting for me tucked inside an envelope. Thanks Julie! My son thought it was cool, too, but I had to rescue it before it became prey for Illinois, our cat.

Well, that's all the news I have for now, I'll not continue to fill your head with mindless babble....that's what my other blog is for, right?!