Holy Crap - THREE FOs?!?!

Well slap my ass and call me a biscuit! Guess who's found her crochet mojo again? That would be me! It's snowing here and in the south that means life as you know it stops at the first flake. It also means that I have the day off from work and can finally blog! Ok, on with the show!

First up a scarf that I started a year ago and finally finished back in November. I used two strands of yarn on the smallest loom in the Knifty Knitter set. Once it was removed from the loom I sewed the two ends together forming a complete tubular circle. This scarf is very warm. I used cheap-o acrylic yarn. One strand was solid blue and the other was multicolored. I really like this scarf and can already see that I’ll get a lot of use out of it for years to come. And it's sooooo versatile!






Next up, another scarf. I finally finished "Muh Boteh" and it only took me 2 years and 1 month! As you can see, my crocheters block is quite crippling and it usually strikes when I'm in the middle of a project. I made this scarf with every intention of keeping it for myself. I loved the pattern, I loved the yarn but when it came off the hook the love stopped there and became an if-y like. Bummer. On the bright side, I shared it on Facebook and a friend of mine really liked it. She offered to buy it, which absolutely flattered me, but I was still thinking I wanted to keep it and told her it wasn't for sale . But, I can't take a compliment...or money apparently...and ended up sending it to her as a surprise back in December. Score on the Karma points! I'll probably make another in the future but will make it longer. It looked weird on me as it was and I'm thinking length would bring the love back. The Boteh pattern can be found HERE or in the Spring 2007 Interweave Crochet magazine.


Finally, a pair of slippers...and you were thinking scarves were all I could make...shame on you! These didn't take multiple years to make, shocking I know. They started out as a kind of gag gift for my friend Morgan. I chose a what I thought would be the best classic tacky crochet pattern and picked out the most heinous yarns I could find in my stash and set to work. But then cupids arrow struck my left butt cheek and I fell in love! They're like Hooters; Delightfully Tacky, Yet Unrefined!! Morgan loved them and so did Geof. He even asked me to make him a pair...but in Hulk colors. His are still a work in progress and I will hopefully be able to post the finished product later today since I won't be venturing out in this weather. The pattern for these slippers can be found HERE. The pattern is great and easy to follow. The only modifications I made were with the soles. I didn't like the pattern for this part, basically a rectangle, so I made my own which resembled a footprint; rounded on the ends and narrower in the middle. The great thing about this project is that you can take your favorite hexagon pattern and turn it into slippers!

That wraps it up for the updates. Does anyone still read this thing anyway? Oh well, I do still enjoy blogging and crocheting (again). Until next time!

Dusting Off The Cobwebs

I suppose I should take advantage of the time that a three day weekend allows and pop in to say hello and that I am alive and well AND I've been crocheting and cheater-knitting (knitting with one of those knifty knitter looms). I currently have an afghan going and a scarf that I mostly work on in the mornings when I'm waiting for the work day to start so progress is slow but steady. I've had my looms for a couple years now and just recently picked them up to try my hand at knitting with them. I really like it and now that I know what I'm doing they're really easy. The instructions that came with the set leave a lot to be desired but there are booklets out there that are inexpensive plus loads of information online that help a lot.

...Imagine a lovely set of pictures here. I just had a nice photo shoot with my knifty knitter creations and then my camera's batteries died when I tried to upload them...

In crochet news I finally finished the afghan I started in December 2008 that was meant as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law...just in time for Christmas 2009. I'm terrible, I know, life and laziness just got in the way. I have issues with crocheters block when working on large projects. Excuses, excuses. I used the round ripple pattern found HERE. I picked the pattern because it had fewer holes in the center than other round ripple patterns I'd seen. It worked up quickly (when I put my ass in gear to work on it) and the instructions were easy to follow. I used Lion Brand Suede that I got for a dollar a skein at a local dollar store and a J hook. I never took any measurements, but it's definitely big enough to cover up with and keep warm. My mother-in-law was very pleased and so was I!

I'm hoping to start a small crochet project today as soon as I figure out what pattern I want to tackle. Ravelry has my mind spinning at the moment! Tomorrow, we tie-dye! Nathaniel has some old jeans he wants me to make as wacky and weird as I can and Geof and I have a few shirts to dye as well. That should be fun!

I'm off to catch up on my blog reading...see you all around the web!

Christmas Crafting

At work we had a Christmas tree located in the front office where visitors are greeted. The tree was decorated with ornaments representing the different groups of clients. I volunteered to be the crafty person to come up with decorations for my group of 10 clients. I decided to make 3 different shapes: a snowman, gingerbread person, and reindeer that each client could pick from. The shapes would have a picture of each client in the middle and they could take them home when we left for our Christmas break. They were a big hit and super easy to make. Here they are with faces hidden to protect identities (except for Geof's)...thanks HIPAA.

I try to make a handmade ornament every year with Geof. As you can see this is what we came up with for this year. He loves it, I love it and I'm sure we'll get a kick out of it for many Christmases to come. All of the ornaments were made from craft foam except for the gingerbread people. They were made from sandpaper.



1. Rudolph, 2. Snowman, 3. Gingergirl, 4. Gingerboy

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Halloweening

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! My costume idea for myself had to be scrapped because of my procrastinating ways. So my last minute crafting came in the form of a Deviled Egg. Very easy and super quick. I just bought 2 yards of white flannel fabric. Folded it in half width-wise, traced out a fried egg/amoeba shaped form, cut it sewed up part of the sides, added a yellow circle and voila! The horns and triton-poker stick thingy were purchased to complete the ensemble. I ended up winning a costume contest at work and my prize was a box of organic pumpkin ginger cookies...I'd say it was worth the effort!

Wish in one hand, shit in the other...

I really wish I had something creative to show you. I started crocheting another Boteh scarf but for some reason kept screwing up so I frogged it and haven't picked it back up. I did make a wire and bead something or other. I have an old, I'm guessing percolator, that I use as a plant pot. I planted some viney type foliage in it and wanted to hang it up but the handle was too short and looked weird. I put some beads on some wire and made an extender for it so it would hang a little lower from the hook. I'll take a picture tomorrow, perhaps it'll make more sense that way. I do have tons of ideas for other crafty ventures. I really want to take up embroidery because I have an idea in mind that I want to make to put up on my bare walls. It's fairly simple, with a bit of a twist. My vision is of the traditional "Home is where the heart is" hanging but with a funky font and anatomically correct heart instead of the word. It's been bugging me for weeks, begging to go from the confines of my brain to something tangible. My lack of knowledge in the embroidery department is what's keeping things from moving along, but a trip to the library tomorrow should get things moving.

Because I have nothing else to blog about..

The Flickr game. I first saw this HERE.

Type your answer to each of the quesitons below into Flickr Search. Using only the first page of results for each answer, pick an image and copy & paste the url for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name? "Amanda"
2. What is your favorite food? "Hamburgers and hotdogs"
3. What high school did you go to? "RS Central High School"
4. What is your favorite color? "Turquoise"
5. Who is your celebrity crush? "Matthew McConaughey"
6. Favorite drink? "Kool Aid"
7. Dream vacation?"Some place tropical"
8. Favorite dessert? Grandma's "Frozen chocolate dessert"
9. What you want to be when you grow up? "Registered Nurse"
10. What do you love most in life? "Family"
11. One word to describe you. "Weird"
12. Your Flickr name. "yarn.junkie"

The Yarn Nook

On our way home from visiting my folks and cleaning up at the new place I decided to take the more scenic route home. I had noticed a few weeks earlier a little yarn shop tucked away in a dying shopping complex and decided to check it out. It was called The Yarn Nook, but I will call it Nirvana. Cute shop, lots of yarn, great owner. I asked her how long the shop had been at that location and she said close to 2 years. I don't travel that road too often, obviously, or this post would have been written 2 years ago! In all my fiber dork glory I asked for her permission to take pictures of her shop and she happily agreed. I was very impressed with the selection of yarns. There was more Noro than I have ever seen anywhere before. I petted it of course, but did purchase any. Oh man I could have burned a hole in my credit card for sure. Linda, the owner, said that she does have a website and she will gladly ship to anywhere. The shop is about 15 minutes from where I live now, and will be an hour from where we're moving. Just my luck to finally find a local yarn store only to be moving away from it within 3 weeks!

So, if you're ever in the western portion of North Carolina, here's another Local Yarn Shop for you to peruse....

The Yarn Nook
1261 Smoky Park Hwy.
Candler, NC 28715
Shop: (828) 665-0610
Fax: (828) 665-0610
Cell: (828) 230-5557
Email: theyarnnook@bellsouth.net
www.theyarnnook.com

I've already packed away all my yarn and crocheting supplies and haven't really thought about any future projects for a while now. I wanted to support the shop so I bought 3 skeins of Berroco Comfort Sock in the 1813 Southland colorway.


I'm either too dumb or too impatient to make socks so this sock yarn will be used to make a Boteh scarf. Unlike a lot of sock yarns out there this is the softest by far. I may have to conquer my fears and make some socks with this because I imagine it would feel so comfy.

Mean Green String Bag

Hot off the hook this morning! It took me 9 days to complete the bag, but it should only have taken maybe 2. The pattern wasn't that difficult I just got bogged down with the mesh rounds and got a bit bored. But that's just my crochet ADD acting up again. I like that the bag came out smaller than the usual market bags you see. It's easier to stuff into your pocket before heading out the door to your local grocery, farmer's market or even your own backyard garden. I'm definitely pleased with her so I guess she's a keeper!

I mentioned in a previous post that the pattern for this little bag came as a freeb handout from my favorite local crafty goodness shop in Asheville, Earth Guild. And as I also mentioned before I'm not quite sure what the rules are for passing along freebie patterns but if you'd like a copy just shoot me an email: yarn_junkie [at] yahoo [dot] com.

The 411...
Pattern Name & Designer: Crocheted String By Mary Young Smith
Materials: 4oz-ish 8/4 cotton carpet warp the colorway I chose was "Dark Jade"
Hook: Size C aluminum or size 1 steel
Gauge: Doesn't matter

Purdy Pitures

A few of my recent projects decided to have a photo shoot this morning so I happily obliged. First up I'll revisit my last post about the bag made from rug warp or carpet warp. I've been working on it for the last couple days. Great mindless pattern for working while watching the boob tube. As I mentioned before, the pattern came as a freebie from the shop. I'm not sure how the rules work for sharing handout patterns but if you'd like a copy email me and I'll be glad to share. yarn_junkie [at] yahoo [dot] come. The picture to the left is a somewhat fair representation of color although it seems a little washed out from what my eyeballs see in person. It's a really rich color somewhere in the same family as jade and emerald greens. Geof helped me pick it out and I think he has great taste.

Next up is my Divine in Blue. The pattern can be found HERE. I started and finished it in the same day...Valentine's Day to be exact. Great pattern, well written, and I can't wait to make more. The best part is that the finished product was great for keeping my head warm in the bitter cold of Wisconsin. By the way, did you know that snot can freeze inside your nose? I was unaware of this phenomena and quite amused by it! Anyhoo, I deviated from the pattern and used H & G hooks. I also added a few rounds with 5 & 6 clusters so that the hat would fit my big ol’ melon. I really enjoyed this pattern. It worked up quickly and turned out fairly thick and warm. Love it!!

An ode to Earth Guild

The in-laws have been in town since Tuesday evening and left out this morning. My mother-in-law is a crafty person and wanted to check out some floor looms in Asheville yesterday so we stopped in at Earth Guild. I fell in love with this store back in high school. They have supplies for everything from tie dying to pottery to basket making. They also have a nice variety of fibers for spinning...and spinning wheels and yarn and hooks and needles and books. You get the idea. I love this shop! What makes it really great is the staff of super friendly folks who know their shit. If you're ever in Asheville you should check it out and gimme a holler and we'll have a grand ol' time. I petted a lot of different yarns and ended up buying a spool of rug warp to make a mesh bag. The pattern was a freebie at the shop and I started on it this afternoon and things are going swell. I've never worked with rug warp before but that's what the pattern suggested to use, it's basically like size 3 crochet thread, and it came in a whole rainbow of colors. I'll post pictures soon just to prove that I still know how to work a hook!