Crochet – Page 2 – Ms Lindz – My little corner of the internet

Completed Projects, Cooking, Current Projects, Sewing

Walden Shawl and Project Updates

Posted on June 17, 2010 by mslindz

This month has been flying by! I can’t believe it’s already the middle of June. This month has been pretty busy both at work and home, but I have been busy knitting and *gasp* CROCHETING. In fact, last week I finished a crocheted shawl!

I’ve been wanting to branch out and learn more crochet for a while. I’ve been especially interested in being able to read and follow crochet patterns. When I asked on Plurk what crochet pattern I should try, Leslie (of The Knit Girllls) suggested Walden. It seemed like a good pattern to get started with, so I started it right away and was finished a few days later.

Walden Shawl

Pattern: Walden (My Ravelry project page.)
Started: June 7, 2010
Completed: June 11, 2010
Yarn: 1 skein Scarlet Fleece It’s Tubular x2 colorway Coffee & Raspberry Pie
Needles: 5.0mm/H hook
Notes: I worked as many pattern repeats as I could before working the border, trying to use up as much yarn as possible. The skein was 420 yards and I think I had about 20 yards left. I probably could have added another row or two before the border, but I would have cut it pretty close I think! For a first crochet project that follows a pattern and isn’t a toy, I think this is a good one. It turned out bigger then I thought it would based on it’s pre-blocked size (it stretched a LOT) and it’s a decent sized small shawl. I would totally crochet this pattern again.

Walden Shawl – Front

Walden Shawl – Side

Walden Shawl – Back

On June 1st, I ended up casting on for the Diagonal Lace socks using the Campari Piccolo Wollmeise. I finished the first sock on June 5th and had knit the the foot of the second sock before I put it aside to work on Walden, but once that was finished, I picked it back up and finished the second sock last night. I don’t have a finished picture yet, but here’s what they looked like Sunday night.

Diagonal Lace Socks

After finishing Walden, I wanted to try another crochet pattern. I looked through Ravelry at all the patterns for tops/sweaters and decided on the Sweet Tea tank top from Everyday Crochet by Doris Chan. Luckily my library had an available copy, so Friday I picked it up from the library and started it in NatruallyCaron.com Spa (side note, why would a yarn be called “whatever.com”?). The yarn is a bit splitty to work with at first, but it’s getting easier as I go. I thought I had the whole crochet gauge thing worked out and thought that I had gauge. When I joined the top front and back pieces and worked a few rows, I quickly figured out that I didn’t have gauge and the top was going to be HUGE on me. When I’d finished the top back/front pieces and held them up to see if it would fit, they did (quite well actually), but when I had added the stitches between the pieces, it added 8 inches or so. Since I knew that without those extra stitches it seemed to fit, I ripped back to where I had joined the pieces and added the extra stitches and rejoined them without adding any stitches between. When I tried it on after crocheting a few rows, it fit! Now I’m sort of winging the rest of the body. Since I’m not doing any bust shaping, I’m not worried about having to adjust anything further in the pattern and it seems to be working out pretty good. I think I may have joined the two pieces with one on the wrong side, so there is a row that looks different/weird. I’ll probably rip it back to the join again tonight and fix it. The picture below is from when I joined it the first time with the extra stitches.

Sweet Tea

I’ve been working on Daybreak and have 9 stripes done so far. This is what it looked like just after doing the first few stripes.

Daybreak

The Damsel Vesper socks have been put to the side. I’ll finish them eventually, but I think the colorway just doesn’t appeal to me when I knit it, so they keep getting put aside for other projects. I’ve at least started the second sock, though!

Vesper socks in Damsel

After finishing up the Diagonal Lace socks, I haven’t decided on a new pair to start, so I think I might try and finish these up before starting another pair of socks.

The weather has finally cooled off a bit and not been super humid and miserable outside. Last night we rode our bikes to music on the commons near our house and there was a nice breeze. They do music on the commons on Wednesday and Thursday, so I think I may ride down again tonight. It was nice to be outside, riding bikes, and listening to music. They even had a vendor with funnel cake! YUM!

Any fun weekend plans? We’ll be going to see the Cincinnati Roller Girls on Saturday night and probably working on cleaning up the basement the rest of the weekend. Oh and yard work. It definitely needs some attention. Needs a good mow and some weed whacking and pulling. Might finally try and get my raised beds set up, too. We’ll see. Right now all I want to do is just relax and knit all weekend! 😉

Completed Projects, Cooking

Mrs. Cactus (More thoughts on the year to come)

Posted on January 4, 2009 by mslindz

My first FO of 2009: Mrs. Cactus!

Pattern: Mrs. Cactus from Amigurumi World by Ana Paula Rimoli
Started: December 28, 2008
Completed: January 4, 2009
Yarn: Bernat Berella 4 – brown, orange, tan, and white
Hook: G/4.0mm
Notes: I think I’m getting better at this crochet/amigurumi thing. The finishing went much better this time around, too. Quite pleased with the overall result!

Mrs. Cactus will be joining Mr. Cactus tomorrow where she will live happily in Matt’s office.

These things are addictive and incredibly cute. I love making them! I now have 5 amigurumi books in my collection. The Borders store closest to me closed January 3rd and they were having a 40% or more off everything in the store sale, so last week I went to see what they still had left. The knitting/crochet books were pretty picked over, but I did get 4 books, including two more amigurumi books. One I’m not totally thrilled with the patterns in it, but it does explain crochet charts which completely baffle me. I bought Creepy Cute Crochet (checked out from the library and LOVED), Amigurumi Animals, Folk Shawls, and Color Style.

I have been working on my Spring Forward socks and they should be done by the end of the week. Tomorrow I’ll be going to Michael’s to hopefully get the yarn for my sister’s replacement Christmas gift – a Harry Potter scarf. It has to be acrylic and Vanna’s Choice has the perfect colors. That will be my project of focus for a while. I don’t think it should take too long to knit, really. It’s done in the round, nothing too fancy, just color changes every so many rows.

In yesterday’s mail I received the buttons I ordered from The Button Shop. I LOVE THEM. Seriously. I will so totally order from them again, the next time I need some buttons. They are beautiful! I ordered them Tuesday (late Tuesday night) and received them Saturday. Pretty fast, if you ask me :o)

The front, darker ones, will be used for the Gable sweater. Not sure what the other ones will be used for yet, but I loved them, so ordered them. I’m sure I’ll find a use for them soon enough!

I also got the two pair of socks I ordered from Sock Dreams. No pictures yet, but I do like them quite a lot. I got really long, over the knee black ones and knee high rainbow striped ones. I have no doubts I’ll be ordering from them again! Ordered mid-day on Wednesday, arrived Saturday.

I’ve decided on another thing I’d like to add to the pile of “Things I’d Like To Do This Year.” I want to use my crockpot more and try out more recipes. So, to combine the two, I have decided to cook something in the crockpot once a week. One new recipe a week. I’m sure there will be more than just new crockpot recipes throughout the year, but this is an easily achievable goal and will continue to encourage us to eat at home. This weekend we made cabbage soup. It came out alright, but I have decided I don’t really care for celery in crockpot soups. Celery was in the last soup we made and in this one. I just don’t care for the flavor it gives everything!

Let’s see, then… what’s my list of “Things I’d Like To Do This Year” in list format?

Read at least 12 books this year
Take one photo per day (Plurk Craft 365)
Blog more (personal and here)
Do more colorwork knitting
Knit something that requires steeking
Knit more sweaters and lace
Wear socks that I’ve knit
Try one new recipe per week using the crockpot

Hm. When I put it all in a list like that, it kinda seems Big and Scary. Really, though, it’s not. My knitting group started a book club at the end of last year, so that definitely encourages me to read more. I have my Plurk friends to encourage me to take photos every day. More photos = more blogging. I already have yarn coming to me for colorwork fingerless gloves AND a colorwork sweater that requires steeking! I have two lace projects on the needles. I have a bag of socks I’ve knitting and haven’t worn. There are PLENTY of recipes on the internet for crockpots and I have books/magazines with recipes, too. So, yeah, in a list, it might look Big and Scary, but in reality, all of these things are things that I can reasonably do! :o)

I finally got caught up with people’s blogs and it’s left me feeling like there’s something I need to DO in 2009, but no clue as to what that might be. I’ve been thinking on it most of the night, considering what goals or projects or whatever might be calling me. So far, I have no idea what it might be, but I have a feeling that this year will be just as good, if not better than 2008.

Completed Projects, Current Projects

New Workspace

Posted on October 6, 2008 by mslindz

Today I went to dinner with my family in celebration of my birthday. Dinner was good and when it came time to gifts, they gave me a card. Inside the (singing) card, was piece of paper with a picture of a desk and a note saying “IOU one desk from IKEA.” I totally didn’t think they’d ACTUALLY get me a desk of any sort, so I just passed it off as nothing. As we walked to the car, my mom was asking me when would be good to go and get it. I told her whenever is good for her. She popped open the trunk and said something like “Is now good?” and I looked in the trunk and there were two boxes from IKEA – my new desk!! I was totally shocked and didn’t expect it at all, but it was a really happy surprise. I’ve been using my sewing table for a while because desk are, well, not cheap! So, I’ve been putting off buying one since the sewing table was working well enough. The last time my mom was over she mentioned seeing some desks at IKEA for like $140 or so and was suggesting I get one. I said that that was more than I wanted to pay and didn’t think much of it after that. Tonight, though, I came home with a new desk! I love it :o)

Here’s a picture of the new desk (I forgot to take a picture of the old set up, whoops!):

You can’t really see it, but my rockin’ new chair from Matt is in the picture, too. I love that chair, it’s sooo comfortable!

Since I’m here posting about my new desk (from my new desk!), I’ll show you what I’m working on right now – the Twisted Flower Sock:

And here’s the Grim Reaper with eyes and a mouth (still needs a scythe):

Completed Projects, Current Projects

On Birthdays and Yarn Things

Posted on October 3, 2008 by mslindz

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to meeeeeeee
Happy birthday to me

Yesterday was my birthday! I’m now 27 years old, but in most ways I don’t feel like it. I got lots of birthday wishes yesterday from friends and even people I didn’t know! I had to work yesterday, but Matt came and took me to lunch. We went to the new Chipotle across the street from where I work which is actually opening today, but they had a free food day yesterday in preparation for their grand opening today. They passed out flyers to get in and I didn’t get one. We went over anyway and Matt had brought a crown and a sash that said “Birthday Girl” for me to wear. The lady that was collecting the flyers said she couldn’t turn me away on my birthday and let us in even though we didn’t have a flyer. As I went through the line, all the workers were saying “Happy Birthday!” to me as were a bunch of customers that were there! It was pretty awesome even though I was a little shy about it.

When I got home, we watched some TV, then we made dinner – baked potatoes with chili, cheese and sour cream and veggies. It was delicious! After that we watched the VP debate, which was quite interesting. Matt definitely made my birthday feel extra special and the celebrating isn’t over yet! This Saturday we’re having lunch with some people from the knitting group and in the evening we’re planning on going to Dave & Buster’s to play some arcade games. Then on Sunday we’re going out to dinner with my family. Not sure where yet, but I’ll pick something good. I’ll be sure to be wearing my crown and sash for all the festivities!

As for knitting, I recently finished the Pomatomus socks I was knitting, so here’s the run down:

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A.
Started: August 27, 2008
Completed: September 28, 2008
Yarn: Cascade Heritage Paints
Needles: US 1 bamboo DPNs (4 instead of 5 because I broke one while knitting the first sock!)
Notes: I would have had these done faster, but when it came time to knit the second sock, it became my “TV project” (the thing I knit while in front of the TV only) so it took a little bit longer than usual. Great pattern and I’m sure I’ll knit it again!

In other knitting… I started a cowl and ripped it out before I even got a picture of it. I was using Cascade Heritage red sock yarn I have, but the fabric it was making was just a bit too loose for me, so I ripped it out. Now I’m going to make socks with the yarn instead. After seeing the Twisted Flower Socks by Cookie A. on Ravelry in red, I just had to make them, so I’ll be starting those soon! Here’s the yarn I’m using:

I’m still knitting away on Juno Regina. I’m at the part where it’s just knitting the columns of the middle portion for a long stretch, so I doubt that will be very interesting to blog about anytime soon. I do love knitting with the Malabrigo lace, though. It’s so very soft and buttery. Speaking of Malabrigo lace, I ordered the yarn to make the crocheted Small Bob (if you’re on Ravelry, you may have see this). Since it doesn’t take up a lot of yarn and I’ll have a lot left over, I decided to make up Small Bob crochet kits. The last of the yarn I was waiting on arrived today. Here’s all of it:

Since I needed to meet an order limit for the natural colored Malabrigo lace yarn, I indulged and bought a skein of Silky Malabrigo for me for a cowl. I love it!

I’m still working up these little cute crocheted things. Here’s the latest one – Grim Reaper:

He still needs eyes, mouth and a scythe. (I’ll get to it this weekend!) The next one I will be making is the Spartan from the same book as the Grim Reaper (Creepy Cute Crochet).

Recently, I saw the cutest Hello Kitty crochet book. I almost didn’t try to acquire it because it’s in Japanese, but it does have charts and I think I’m finally figuring out the crochet chart thing, so I went for it. I mean COME ON, it’s a Hello Kitty book! How could I not have it? So, I messaged this Etsy seller to see if she could obtain a copy of the book for me. She lives in Japan and agreed to get me a copy. I’ve been impatiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail and when I got home yesterday, there it was waiting for me!

I can’t wait to make something out of it!

Completed Projects, Current Projects

Plants, A Wool Gathering, and Projects

Posted on September 23, 2008 by mslindz

Last week I wasn't in my office at all. We had a storm come through (remnants of Ike) on Sunday and somewhere in the ballpark of 600,000 people were without power. We lost power at the apartment around 2 pm on Sunday and didn't get it back until Tuesday around 7 pm. There are still about 8,000 people without power in the area, so I'm thankful that we at least have power back, but we don't yet have our own internet back. We lost a whole fridge worth of food because the power was out for so long, but on the upside of that we cleaned the whole thing out and only have food we will actually eat in there now! See? Not all bad ;o)

Anyhow, I wasn't in my actual office for a week because there was no power until late Wednesday, so we were working from the main building downtown on Tuesday and Wednesday since I'm fortunate enough to work for a department that can't be down for long. I was out on Thursday and Friday because I had to have a little procedure done on Thursday (I'm fine – it wasn't that bad and everything went well). I was worried about Toby, Angela and Dwight (my plants) and when I came in yesterday Toby and Dwight looked okay, but Angela was a bit droopy. She's apparently pretty high maintenance! Didn't take long for her to perk back up, though. A lady I work with was kind enough to water my plants when I was out. She found Angela very droopy and was worried she might die, so she watered her for me and she kept checking on her to make sure she was coming back to life. I'm grateful she was kind enough to take care of them while I was out! I think I do need to repot all of them, though. They're growing rather quickly!

Not that long ago I posted about a raffle Robin was having for supporting her friend who's doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Well… I won a skein of Wollmiese from her! I had actually forgotten about the contest and was just happy I was able to support a great cause. Then Robin contacted me and let me know I won! She even delivered it in person at knit night! It was, of course, passed around so everyone could see, but I made sure to keep my eyes on some of the folks that admitted they wanted to steal it ;o)

There was some talk on Plurk and Ravelry recently about Sundara's yarn clubs. I have been wanting to get a hold of some Sundara yarn for a long time, but kept missing out on shop updates and folks on Ravelry who had skeins of Sundara sock yarn listed as for sale or trade only wanted to trade for another colorway. I was seriously considering joining one of the sock yarn clubs, but wanted to be able to see the yarn in person before committing to it. About two weeks ago now, I posted in the Sundara Yarn Love group on Ravelry and someone was willing to sell me a skein (actually, I sold a skein of yarn in my stash and used that money to get this, so it was more like a trade). I was open to any colors at all figuring I could trade/sell the skein if I didn't like the colors in person. On September 10th a skein of Sundara sock yarn in Pine Over Gold arrived in my mailbox:

The colors really are that vibrant in person. It's shiny and beautiful, but the twist and thickness of the yarn reminded me a lot of Louet Gems except more shiny. I'm always undecided about green for me. It's really pretty yarn, but just wasn't for me, so I sold it on Ravelry and then used that money to buy a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Farmhouse (another "trade"!), which arrived this past Saturday:

I have never been disappointed with STR and I love these colors. I've wanted a skein of Farmhouse for a while now, but I never want to spend the money to order from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Ravelry gave me the opportunity to get a yarn I want yet again! I really do love Ravelry – can you tell?

Last Thursday, after my doctor's appointment, we stopped by Joseph-Beth Booksellers because I wanted to see if they had any new knitting magazines. They did have some new ones and had the one I was looking for:

The new Debby Bliss magazine! I like a lot of the patterns in it and can't decide what I want to make first. It's definitely worth checking out this magazine – it's packed with great patterns and interesting articles.

Saturday Matt and I went to A Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, OH. We got there a little late in the day because we took our time getting ready and getting there. It was nice to be rushing around to get ready and get there since we weren't on any real schedule. I think we got there around 1 pm. First we went through the tents to get an overview of what was there. There were two booths that had angora bunnies for sale and I kept asking if I could take one home with me. While I really want one, I know that it'd be best to wait until we're living in a house to have one (or more). They were so adorable and soft! There was even a little baby that was so tiny and about 6 months old.

I was quite restrained with my purchases. Honestly, I didn't feel much like buying yarn. Creatively Dyed Yarns had some absolutely beautiful yarns and rovings. I had a hard time picking one out to take home with me! Matt helped me pick one and I brought this home:

One thing that I really wanted to get while I there was a shawl pin. Knitting Notions was there again this year and I bought this beautiful bloodwood shawl pin:

I love it! It goes great with my Clapotis, as you can see, and I think it will be great with Juno Regina, too.

There was TONS of fiber. I was really tempted to buy some, but I refrained since I only have a drop spindle right now that's really hard for me to use (hurts on my shoulders a bit). I spent a lot of time talking about spinning wheels with Matt (there were a lot there) and he kept telling me that we could totally build one for much cheaper than what they're sold for. At first I was pretty skeptical, but the more we looked at them, the more I was convinced we could make one and I started getting excited about the idea of finally having a wheel! When we got home, we looked up some information on building a wheel and I think I have some good thoughts, ideas, and references to go off of. I'm waiting on a book from the library before moving forward with it. I'm really excited about it, though, and plan on documenting it here, hopefully helping others to build a wheel themselves! Stay tuned!

I've been moving right along with my Pomatomus sock and have been working on it while watching tv. I've turned the heel and I'm now working on the gusset. Here's my progress so far:

Juno Regina is coming right along, too. I've had some issues with the pattern, but it ended up being my own fault for having an extra stitch or not really getting what the pattern wants me to do. That happens to me sometimes, nothing to do with the actual pattern – it's pretty clear, but my mind is not sometimes! I think I capture the colors pretty good here:

I have found that amigurumi is a LOT of fun to make! I'm working on the Grim Reaper from the book Creepy Cute Crochet:

The picture shows the start of the body, but I've actually completed the little guy! Well, I completed the crochet part and sewing him all together, but he still needs eyes, a mouth and a scythe. Today Matt called me to tell me an idea he had about a little girl design he thought I should create. I have some ideas about how to make it, but I'll have to think on it a bit more. I thought it was so fantastic that he called me with an idea like that! It made me smile :o)

Current Projects

Catching up

Posted on September 20, 2008 by mslindz

I haven't had much to say lately. Partly because I've been pretty stressed out about some medical stuff and partly because I've been pretty busy.

Lets see…

I moved to a new cube at work and I decided to bring some plants in for it. Matt thought it would be nice to name them, so he did! Meet Angela, Dwight, and Toby (any fans of The Office out there?):

As for knitting, I've been working away on the Pomatomus socks completing one and nearly to the heel on the second one. Here's a picture of the first sock, all done:

Recently, though, I got distracted and started Juno Regina. The yarn had been calling me the whole time I was working on the Pomatomus socks, but I kept telling myself I couldn't start it until the socks were done. These socks are a gift, though, and I was in a situation that said recipient would be seeing them and even though I could have probably passed it off that they were for me, they could have been suspicious since I've done that before. I didn't take any chances and left the socks safely tucked away and started Juno Regina instead. I'm using Malabrigo Lace in Violetas. I really like how it's coming out so far!

Juno Regina has become my new on the go project even though I need to look at the chart occasionally. Soon I'll probably switch it out for the Pomatomus socks again so I can have them done before Christmas arrives (one of the few Christmas gifts I'm knitting!).

After putting down the Pomatomus socks to work on Juno Regina, I got distracted by something totally different – crochet! Specifically, I was competely distracted by amigurumi. I had tried and failed to figure out the crochet skills needed to learn how to make these cute things previously, but this time I was very determined to learn. I had actually bought a book to learn how to make these cute crochet critters, but just couldn't get it. I finally found some helpful video tutorials online that brought it all together for me and I made a cupcake!

After I made that, I couldn't decide what to make next. Matt and I went to Michael's this past Monday when we were both off work and home without power. I needed some stuffing for the cupcake and while I was there I picked up another amigurumi book – Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet by Ana Paula Rimoli.

He asked me to make him the set of cacti in there, so I got the yarn needed and started on it as soon as I got home. I finished it up yesterday and brought it to him at work. I forgot to get a good picture before I brought it to him, so here's my cell phone picture of it on his desk:

We're getting ready to head out to A Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, OH, so I'll wrap this up by showing you the first thing I made after we got power back on Wednesday – grilled fried egg and pepper jack cheese sandwich:

Current Projects

Catching up on a bit of everything

Posted on August 25, 2008 by mslindz

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged last! I've been rather busy at work and at home since I last posted. I've taken on some extra things at work that I'm excited about, but that means I've been working more hours each week, which leaves me pretty tired. The last few weekends have been busy, too. Visiting with friends and family – fantastic, but also tiring! Not to say I haven't been enjoying it, because I totally am, it's just not left me much time for other things and blogging seems to fall to the wayside when I'm busy. (I really must try and fix that.)

Anyhow…

Today I booked our vacation! We're going to Charleston, South Carolina and will be staying at The Lodge Alley Inn, right downtown, the first week of November. I have owned a timeshare for about 5 years now and this is the first time I'm using it. I'm SO excited to be going!

The Ravelympics have come to a close and I did not finish my Starlight sweater. I knew about half way through the Ravelympics that I wouldn't finish and I kind of just stopped knitting at that point. I think I got a little bored with the pattern and the cable row that is every 4th row, not to mention that it's not very portable at all. I've found that I am just not that great at knitting on only one thing if I'm not that interested in it. It's become my "knit while watching tv" project and eventually it will be done. I'm hoping by the end of the year. If I'm not done with it by the time we take our vacation, I'm bringing it as my "knit in the car" project.

Since I was totally over the Ravelympics once I figured out there's no way I'd be done with it (I highly over-estimated how much time I'd have to knit and I started working more hours at work which left a lot less knitting time for me), I started a sock:

When I found that this sock didn't really fit over my heel without a lot of struggle, it was frogged last Wednesday. Since that didn't work out and I like to have a good sock project for taking on-the-go with me, I started this yesterday:

Pomatomus:

I started another project at the request of the boyfriend. I was trying to find a pattern on Ravelry and he was standing next to me as I was searching and saw this pattern. He suddenly couldn't live without it and requested I knit it for him with my left over Nanner yarn. I said I'd only knit it if he'd wear it and I can take photographic evidence of him wearing it. He said he'd totally wear it and let me take pictures, so here I am knitting a Banana Hammock!

Progress so far:

I'm actually a bit further along than that, but I don't have a picture yet.

This past weekend, my friend Grace came over so we could go to the Gaiam outlet sale (it's close to my house) that was going on. I was lucky enough to get TWO pairs of Earth shoes for 60% off! Quite a steal, if you ask me. I haven't bought a pair before, but have heard so many good things. I just couldn't ever justify the expense. For the price of one pair of Earth shoes with the Kalso Negative Heel Technology, I got two pairs of Vegan Earth shoes, a yoga mat/block/strap kit with dvd, a t-shirt, yoga flip flops (they separate all your toes, supposed to be good for balance), and a really cool bag (my new purse). I am beyond excited by it! I'm wearing one pair today and I absolutely love them. I can actually feel myself walking taller/straighter.

I have to say that the bag I got excites me as well. It has two separate zippered compartments in it and is very light. I thought it would be perfect for keeping my purse junk on one side and my sock project on the other. I've been wanting a bag that can do this that isn't as big as a suitcase (like it seems most knitting bags are) and this meets all my needs completely! Only thing that I'd like is another small zippered pouch for some of my purse junk that I used to keep in the inside zippered compartment since this bag doesn't have any inside pockets. The bag itself is very light and even with my sock project in it, I'd swear it's lighter than the last purse I had.

The bag:

The inside:

I love this bag! It only cost $15 (regular price $50 with 70% off that price). LOVE.

I know a number of folks got into the Wollemeise sock club recently. Lucky folks! I was going to try and get a spot, but I figured that it was best for my budget not to do that. Speaking of budget… I have paid off my Visa card! Just waiting on the payment to post, but man am I happy about that!

I sold off some of my stash and gave away some to my sister. I just felt the need to get rid of yarn that just wasn't right for me for whatever reason. Anything that I didn't have plans for pretty much went with the exception of most of the sock yarn (there were a few lone skeins that found new homes) and lace yarn. It felt rather liberating to just have yarn that I really wanted to knit with, even if I didn't have a specific pattern for it. My Ravelry queue holds plenty of sock and lace patterns that I like, so that's not a problem! It was the worsted weight stuff, just a skein here or there that I wanted out of my stash. My sister was welcoming to the new yarn (a trash bag full!) and I sold quite a bit on Ravelry. I sent out 11 packages today, all making their way across the states and one making its way to Norway.

Last week I bought a book to learn amigurumi.

There's some cute things in here and once I finish the Banana Hammock, I'm going to be teaching myself how to make things from the book. My crochet skills are limited at best, but my sister crochets and I'm sure if she can't help me, someone at SnB can.

Recently Miss Voiolet (of Lime & Violet fame) started selling soaps and scents. I was able to get in an order in when the shop first went up and got my goodies about two weekends ago:

Soaps: Dirty Jack, Farmgirl, Sinflower, Afternoon Baking, and Plurk Nannerbread
Cupcakes (scents): Dirty Jack, Organza Fills, Afternoon Baking, Lime & Violet, Soda Jerk, and Wednesday's Market

So far I've used the Afternoon Baking soap and scent and the Soda Jerk scent – all are great. All the soaps and scents smell good and I'm looking forward to using them :o)

I bought this at the Target $1 spot (or former $1 spot because now they have things for $2 and $2.50!) for my desk at work because I thought it was cute:

Recently I've had some ups and downs concerning my health. My back is in worse condition than I thought (I really did hope physical therapy would help) and I'm waiting to see my neurologist on Sept. 9th. Then I got some news from the VA about the disability claim I filed last year for my back - they approved me for compensation for the back problems at 20% and I'll be receiving a check from them monthly. They are missing some paperwork, though, so I'll be appealing my claim and maybe receive more. I was pretty mixed about this decision, but overall it means more good things for me than anything bad. Now it's all just a waiting game to see where I go from here.

I had started two other posts between the last time I posted and now, but neither made it to completion, so I'm sure there's more that I wanted to write about, but I don't recall (or it feels too old to mention). Til next time!

Posted in Knit Ramblings
Granny Square (aka Look I can crochet!)

Posted on February 13, 2007 by mslindz

In the past I taught myself how to do a single crochet and double crochet, but couldn’t do anything beyond making a square or rectangle. I’ve been wanting to learn a little more than that and mostly be able to read patterns, so yesterday I got a book to help me out. Today I taught myself how to make Granny Squares:

It’s a little wonky (in my opinion), but I think it came out pretty good for my first attempt :o)

~~~~~

I’m a little bummed about this, but I know it’s for the best. I’ve decided that I’m not going to join any more swaps until we are moved and settled into a place. I’m bummed because I thought about joining The Project Spectrum Swap and/or Secret Pal 10. I decided not to because we’re still in limbo with the move and not being settled makes it difficult to do swaps. Not only that, but so much of my crafty stuff is packed up and not accessible which means I have to buy more of what I already have or somehow manage without it. So, after talking it over with Nick, we both agreed that it would be best to wait until we are settled somewhere. *sigh* I know its for the best and I’m sure there will be other cool swaps once we are settled, but it bums me out a bit. Still, in light of the fact that I will not be swapping for a while and my crafting is sort of limited, I think I may join Project Spectrum. I’ll decide in the next few days if I will or not.

We’re expecting lots of snow tomorrow and we’ve planned a day spent at home. I’ll be doing my taxes (see the software in the background of the above photo? it’s waiting for me!), hopefully finishing my Sock-ret Pal socks, and maybe even learning more crochet!

Posted in Knit Ramblings
You’re doing WHAT?

Posted on July 18, 2006 by mslindz

I don’t want to scare anyone…. but I’m crocheting!

I know it’s scary. I know I thought I’d never even attempt it again because my previous attempts seemed disastrous (I just couldn’t keep tension at all). I think since I’ve been knitting for a good two years now, I’ve figured all that tension stuff out and my new attempt at crochet seems to be going a bit better. I’m going to be practicing some different stitches (is that what you call them in crochet?) by making dishcloths. I found a whole ton here.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Not too bad if I do say so myself ;o)

(Eventually I will finish taking stock of my stash… I mean it would be nice to know what I have, even if I do only have two very small bins full of yarn.)

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