Hold me accountable

The boyfriend has taken his daughter to D.C. for her Spring Break and won't be home until sometime on Saturday. I'm attempting to use this time to kick start myself into some productivity. There are lots of projects I always talk about doing and never manage to get done. I'm hoping that if I share the list here you all will help keep me motivated. Here's the list:

• Finish an afghan that's 6 feet wide and seven feet long. The afghan is currently half done.
• Read two books, Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell and The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I've started both books but am not too far in either of them.
• Pull everything out of my closet except the clothes. Organize, donate, or throw away all of the junk.

Because reading the books and crocheting the afghan cannot happen concurrently, I think this is a pretty healthy list for 5 days. Other jobs that can be done while crocheting include watching shows on the DVR to clean that off and listening to podcasts clogging up my iPod (and seemingly multiplying while I'm not looking!).

Anyone have any ideas on how I can keep motivated and get this stuff done?

All chaotic and twirly

I've been making hats and scarves for my friend Emily. I finished the second set, and they're getting ready to head over to Shanghai tomorrow. Thought I'd get some pictures first. The hat is a cloche style and the scarf twirls round and round on itself. I will probably never make this scarf again. Had I thought about the basic construction of the scarf I would have realized that the number of stitches in each row grows exponentially and therefore, takes longer to finish. Not a good project for the impatient.

On a side note, doesn't Handy Manny look swell?

Adding to my stash - part 2

I haven't decided yet what this is for, but it was on clearance for only $1.79 a skein. Couldn't turn that down. It's Baby Bee Sweet Delight Baby in Ladybug Ombre. It's 60% cotton and 40% polyamide. I kind of think this looks like scarves, but again, I haven't decided.

This is some Vanna's Choice (100% acrylic in Mountain Print) that I bought specifically to go with this hat that I already made for Emily. You can see it behind the yarn. The scarf I'm making is this pattern.

This was especially for me. It's Trekking XXL sock yarn. 75% new wool (as opposed to old?) and 25% nylon. I'm making this scarf with it. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make the hat. I plan to extend the scarf pattern to make it longer.

Adding to my stash - part 1

I was recently chastised (very lightly, but still chastised) for letting my blog go. I was asked why I post nothing new, day after day. Well, it's not that there aren't things to post about. It's just that I usually find myself so tired at the end of the day that doing another thing makes my brain hurt.

However, in an attempt to keep my loyal public happy, here's a post about yarn. Sorry it's not more exciting, but it's what I've got!



This is my purchase for this scarf. It's Crystle Palace Yarns Kid Merino in Berry. 28% kid mohair, 28% merino wool, and 44% micro nylon. It's nearly 5 ounces of laceweight lovliness. It's soft and sqwooshy (phonetic spelling for effect) and I love it. I started working on the scarf at crochet night a couple of weeks ago, but I find that I need to concentrate and really learn the pattern before I can work on this with anyone around. It's not a difficult pattern, but I've never worked with this type of yarn before so it will take some getting used to.


This is Plymouth Yarn Royal Llama Silk. It's 60% fine llama and 40% silk. It's lovely. It's spun in Argentina and is currently being made into a scarf. It feels so nice and I'm afraid that working with specialty yarns may be spoiling me. :)

This stuff is crazy, but I love it. It's Trendsetter Yarns Aura. It's 100% nylon and 100% fun. I originally bought it to make a scarf for the munchkin, but when I was able to pick up three more balls at 40% off, I decided that Emily needed a hat and scarf. I'm hoping that I can get one of the guys going to China to mule it over to her.

This is Filatura Di Crosa Baby for Tahki Stacy Charles Pom Pom. I'm not really sure yet what it's going to be, but it was too cute to leave there. Can you tell I have a problem? :) It's 41% Cotton, 49% Acrylic, and 10% Polyamide. I need to find a pattern for this.

I bought these three skeins of Patons Stretch Socks for, you guessed it, socks. It's 41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% nylon, and 7% elastic. The nylon and elastic should make them nice and stretchy. Now if I can just find my sock pattern book...

My scarf

I so infrequently make something for myself that when I saw this scarf pattern, I had to make myself one. I chose purple...big surprise. It's Vanna's Choice in Purple Mist. I love it and wear it all the time. I get lots of compliments on it.

Christmas gifts

So I'm a little late on the posting. Oh well. It happens. What you're looking at is a scarf that I made for my friend Emily that is living in Shanghai. The colorway is Cherry Chip. It's done from this pattern. I had made one for myself and loved how it turned out so much that when I suggested to Emily that I make her a scarf, I decided to use the pattern. Now Mom wants one.

While I was working on the scarf, Emily requested a hat to go with it. I'd never made a hat before, but told her I would give it a shot. Here's the result. This pattern works up surprisingly quickly and is so cute.

See, even Scarlett approves!

Big move in my crochet world

I am taking a huge step tomorrow. I am going to an actual LYS (Local Yarn Store). And I'm going to spend (potentially) lots of money on high-end yarn. I found this pattern in the coolest crochet magazine ever, Interweave Crochet.

I love this scarf. So, I'm going to spend my money and make the scarf. I was talking with Mom about it and telling her that it's quite possibly a 30-40 dollar scarf. She made a very good point...it would cost me three times that in a boutique. Plus, this way I'll be able to say I made it.

When crochet goes wrong

I've been crocheting for so long that I've often found myself championing the cause. Crochet is thought of as something old ladies do. Sure, they do, but so do young, hip chicks like myself. OK, go ahead and laugh. But there are a lot of cool projects out there. This is not one of them! Seriously. All I'd need would be a fe-mullet and I'd be set to wear these. Please. If I ever make something like this, remove the hook from my hand!

Project I want to try

I've always wanted to crochet myself a sweater. This one looks like a likely pattern. I would change it a bit though so that the neck wasn't a stovepipe. I think 10 balls of the zinnia would do it. Hmm. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

What I'd like to tell you

I'd like to tell you that I have time to blog about all that's been going on in the last week. I don't think I really do, but I'll hit the highlights...

Hubby put up my Williams Sonoma shelves. These were a belated birthday present. They're going to house cookbooks and small appliances that don't get used every day. More pictures when I can get to it. Sorry!

Thinking of starting Pilates. It should be really good for me after the accident. Even got the approval of my chiropractor.

Trying to get really into my book for book club. Not making a lot of progress there. This WILL NOT be the only book I haven't read in the year since I started this thing.

Stitch and bitch tomorrow night. Plus I have to go to a viewing for my daycare provider's father-in-law. It's the right thing to do. Going to be a busy night.

Work continues to keep me busy. I still love it. I'm still crazy. :)

Spent Sunday with my best friend Amy. Went to church with her. Wonderful experience. I'll be going back.

That's the 30 second wrap up. Gotta run!

Relaxing

I spent the morning out on our newly renovated deck. We painted/stained it white and had indoor/outdoor carpeting installed. (Pictures to follow when I get the energy.) So this morning I took a cup of Yogi tea, my MP3 player, and my crocheting and sat out there.

There was a pretty stiff wind (25-35 mph), but it was still so nice. I've been working on my blue "green" scarf. I named it that because it's reusing some yarn from a sweater that I took apart. Therefore, it's "green" in the sense that I didn't purchase anything new made by a factory. This scarf is done with a very fine yarn and a very small hook (Size E) so it's going to take a while. But it's going to be pretty cool.

The hubby gave me a compliment yesterday on the yarn "feeder" I was using. I read about it on a crochet forum, so I can't take credit for the idea. Do you recognize the container? It's a bleach wipes container. Putting the ball of yarn in allows it to feed through the top very conveniently. Works like a charm!

Update

It's been a crazy weekend. We are preparing for new flooring going into the kitchen/dining room, laundry room, and front entryway. With that in mind, it's been a mass of, "Where are we going to move this? Out on the deck? Nope, can't do that. They're putting the indoor/outdoor carpeting out there. OK, let's move this here, and this here, and we'll put the fridge in the living room..."

I wish I were kidding. I currently have a table on the bed in the spare bedroom, a baker's rack in the hallway, and there will soon be a washer, dryer, and stove on the front porch. The dining room table will reside in the living room, along with the chairs, and the fridge will indeed be in the living room until the kitchen floor is done. Heck, we might like it so much that we'll decide to leave it there.

I've been working on that double crocheted blue afghan. I'm hoping to finish the first skein (a 1 lb. skein. Those of you that crochet know that's over twice the size of a large skein.) today so that I can feel some sense of accomplishment. I've also been reading David Copperfield and have promised myself that I'll finish up to page 350 before beginning book 3 of the Edward and Bella story. It's been hard to resist.

Work is as busy as ever. Right now I'm working hard just to keep my head above water. But, having lots of projects to work on keeps me busy and keeps my mind off of other things that have been worrying me. So, I'm not complaining. Besides, job security is never a bad thing. And I do love my job.

Pulling out a UFO

In times of stress I go to crochet. The repetitive motion is comforting. But when I'm stressed I find it difficult to focus on a pattern. So I'll be pulling out the DC blue afghan. Maybe I can make some progress on that. I wouldn't mind finding some peace in the work either.

12 steps

After reading Deb's post on yarn envy, this is what I came up with.

Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction to yarny goodness - that our stashes (or desire to add to the stash) had become unmanageable.

Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Either that or the PERFECT yarn management system could hide the bulk of our stash from our significant other. In other words, we don't want them to know the truth!

Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God and beg Him for mercy in the fight to list EVERY BIT of the stash on Ravelry.

Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our stash. Posted said inventory on Ravelry.

Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. (Yes, I ordered more yarn for which I have no plan. But I ordered enough of it to make the largest project I've ever planned.)

Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character, but please don't ask me to remove any of the stash.

Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. (Did I buy that horribly scratchy yarn?)

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all by considering giving away some of the stash. Good yarn karma never hurts.

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Sale at elann.com? No. I don't know about any sale.

Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. So THAT'S the reason I log on to ravelry at least 3 times a day.

Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and our fibers and the power to carry that out.

Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs, including yarn diets.

New blog

I've started a blog to show my finished objects. The bar on the side of this blog was just getting too long. It's a work in progress. I haven't transferred anything yet, but I will. Keep checking...if you're at all interested.

Slap my hand

I started yet another afghan. But honestly, I had reason to. My nephew, Truman Dane, was born on the 21st. This afghan either goes to him or to two babies who are on their way. I haven't decided yet.

The pattern, the Noah's Ark you see here on the cover, is from this month's issue of Crochet! I'm following the pattern, but had to switch to Caron's Soft because that's what was available. I'm not very far in, but I can't wait to see how this turns out. I'll let you know how it's going as I progress.

What fun

Here's my latest deconstructed sweater. Thanks again, Tara. The yarn is 60% nylon, 30% dehair angora rabbit hair, and 10 percent wool. That's right, more little rabbits. It's soft and snuggly.

To give those of you wondering about the process just a little idea of how it goes, here's what I've got.

First, a couple of snips, and pull. Here's what you get.

Then you can remove individual pieces with the same steps.

This sweater was a little different because once I actually unraveled each piece, I had to separate the yarn into two pieces. Two strands had been plied together (think two-ply toilet paper). So, I unraveled each section of the sweater, un-plied (is that a word?) the two strands, and then wound the individual strands into balls.

I ended up with 5 balls of lovely yarn. In the picture you can see the start of a single crochet scarf. I wanted to see what it would look like once it was worked up. I was also experimenting with hook size.

Guess I better add the scarf to the UFO list in the sidebar.

Dismantling

Can't quite remember how, but I ran across some tutorials telling me how to pull apart old sweaters for the yarn. Since I thought this was a grand idea for trying out making socks without investing the money in sock yarn, I was waiting for my opportunity.

The last time we had stitch and bitch, Tara told us that she had tons of clothes to give away. And boy did she! I didn't score much along the lines of clothes for me, but I did get three sweaters to attempt pulling apart. Want to give it a shot? Check here for some really great instructions. My first attempt (100 % acrylic) took me forever. Note to all others interested in trying this, don't attempt it for the first time with boucle or anything resembling it!

But, here you can see the fruits of my labors. I've included the VHS tape for size comparison. Seven balls of yarn. I'm anxious to try making socks. I've got a book, but I'll admit to being nervous. Not like I can't frog it if it doesn't work.

Now I'm working on another one that is 56% nylon, 40% angora, and 4% lambswool. That's right. Angora. As in bunny. As in approximately $20-25 for a 2.5 oz hank. To give you an idea, that's one piece, about half the length of a football field.

Thank you Tara! Can't wait to play around with this and make something luscious!

Navy and Denim

I did it. I actually finished the afghan I had pulled out as a UFO when all hell broke loose with the hubby's heart. Even I must admit, it turned out better than I hoped. I kind of thought it might be pretty plain and boring, but I think it's rather elegant. In a masculine sort of way, that is.

It's just a simple DC, working in the back loop only to give it that ridged texture. (Also makes it easy to do without counting.) Then I did a DC border all the way around. Here's how the corners turned out.

I'm thinking this one goes to my nephew because my sister-in-law expressed interest in it. Chalk up another FO!

Feeling guilty

When all hell broke loose with the hubby, I just couldn't focus enough to continue working on the munchkin's afghan. Not that the pattern is difficult, but it does take a little bit of attention to what you're doing. So, instead, I grabbed a UFO, the DC navy and denim afghan. It's just simple, back and forth, DC. Now, I'm to the point where I'm so close to finishing it, that I just feel like I should finish it and mark it off the UFO list.

But then the guilts hit. Shouldn't I really be working on something for my daughter? She doesn't have anything that I've crocheted.

While I was working on the navy and denim afghan, my sister-in-law saw it. She said she really liked it. So, I think I'll give it to her, probably for my nephew, when it's done. Maybe I'll get around to posting a picture of it later.