I'm sure nobody noticed, at least while I was working on it :) but I just widened the main column of the blog so that I can post bigger pictures. I wasn't able to post anything but small ones, lest they get cut off! So I fixed that!
I'm about to leave for my Thursday night Knitting/Crochet Group! I love this time with my friends. And I might just finish my socks sometime this year, hahaha!
Have a great evening everyone ...
OK, as promised ... not the most beautiful picture ever, but it gets the point across. I have begun this project. So far I am through the back left (of the back left, back middle and back right), and am about to start the back middle section. It is fairly simple considering the pattern is 4,000,000 pages long (ok, 3.5 really).
Labels: crochet, family, hobbies, photography
This morning when I left for work it was balmy and about 79 degrees. It became a little more muggy mid morning, so weird for February. Even in Texas. When I left work at 5:15pm it was COLD. You know, cold for here. So, like 50 and really windy. That's crazy - 30 degree drop!
In other news, I've started crocheting my Sweater Coat - yay! I hope to post pictures soon (when it starts to look like something other than a couple of rows! OK, off to work on it.
For the past several months I have been spending my time knitting, crocheting, beading, taking photos, and in general just being crafty. And I'm in love. I love the care and the time it takes, the people I've met who share this passion, the feeling of accomplishment I now have, and the items I create.
A few days ago, I decided I was going to start selling prints of some of my photos. I am doing this on etsy.com, a fabulous place for all things handmade. I will also be putting more things I've made in my store as soon as I can get their pictures taken ... So, I encourage you to go to etsy and look around - and I don't just mean at my things. Support the handmade crafts of people who truly love creating. And if something strikes your fancy, buy it.
Today I'm going to meet some of my crochet friends for a charity crochet day. We will be making squares that will then be put together for blankets and given to those in need. I'm excited to be doing something to help others, and it'll be fun too! Since I've been knitting a lot lately I hope I can jump back into the crocheting without any problems. I'm sure I can :) Plus my friends will be there to help me if I need it, of course that will come at a price. I'm sure I will be called a traitor for crossing over to the "dark side" by learning to knit, but oh well! I'll have to post a picture of the socks I'm knitting, they are really cool looking I think.
Alright, well its time to make like a baby and head out. See ya!
Here's a bunny I just finished - its very wee and too cute if I do say so myself. I got the pattern from Ana Paula off of Etsy.com, she does fantastic patterns you should check them out! http://anapaulaoli.etsy.com
I finally finished my bag last night!! Yay :) I think it came out so cute!!! It's not very big and basically will fit my wallet and cell phone - so it will definitely be a going out kind of bag. I just love it!
So, outside of surviving all the severe spring weather around here I've been crocheting my little heart out as you can tell by all my critters posted here.
Here's the next one I finished ... it's an elephant for my friend Gloria. She's having a baby and its for the nursery which will be decorated with elephants :)
Here's a little cow I made up for my friend Patrick (well actually for his daughter) ... I just love how it came out. The cow bell really adds something :)
A little smiley face with long purple hair ... its about the size of a ping pong ball! This one is for my hairdresser and friend, Taylor. I think she will like it! And, I'm gonna have to make a whole bunch of these with different colors and hair, they are too cute :)
My friend Jeff at work requested a snail ... I thought, cool, that will be cute. Then he informed me he already had a name picked out - Gary. I thought, hmmm that's an unusual name for a snail. Obviously I'd never seen SpongeBob Square Pants before. Jeff brought me the DVD so I could get familiar.
I hope I did Gary justice ... he is quite an unusual snail. Meow.
Well, not THIS exact piggy :) This one is going to my friend Parks! This little piggy is very wee though ... and so very cute. No word yet on whether or not he likes roast beef .....
Another one down, and I have to say, this one turned out too cute! And it went fast as well, faster than any of the others up to this point. This one is for my friend Tiffany, she wanted a horse, specifically a Palomino, so I did my best to make it look like one :) (Update: She's a hit! And her name is now Tupelo Honey)
I just ordered 2 crochet books from Amazon ..... One is patterns for making hats, and another is patterns for making "granny squares". I hate that term, but some of the ones in this book are not traditional looking old lady type things so I became intrigued.
I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with the crochet blocks that I make ... I've heard about several organizations or clubs that collect them and create blankets for charities, that might be nice. I saw the author of the hip hats book on "Uncommon Threads" on DIY one day and the hats she showed were so cool so I've wanted to get this book for a while.
I think I'm either going to need another set of hands, or more hours in the day to make all the stuff I want to make! Maybe if I just win the lottery soon I can quit my job and crochet all day long - man, that would be heaven.
I just finished this cute octopus for my friend/boss Kelly at work. She specifically requested this shade of orange for her octopus, it's her favorite color! :) (UPDATE: His name is now Simon) I really think I'm getting faster at these critters, this one went much faster than any of the previous ones. Now, just to figure out what will be next .....
After making several critters for other people, I decided I needed to make something for myself. And voila! Here is Mrs. Cactus! I will be working on Mr. Cactus after a few more critters for friends that I've got lined up :) Mrs. Cactus is sporting a fashionable flower in her "hair", cute little black eyes and a cheery smile. I think I'll name her Connie.
I've finished my second monkey! Tho this one was made from a different pattern. It's from a pattern that was written by a member of crochetville.org which is a forum about crochet that I read. It's from her "lazy days" series ... so you'll notice this monkey is laying down!
This monkey is for my friend Rachel, I'll post the name as soon as she's named it (and decided if it is a him or a her).
I just finished this weekends crochet project ... a monkey for my aunt :) I think she will like it ... this is the aunt who is the mother of the cousin who is getting the orange and yellow frog I made last weekend! So, this week the frog and the monkey will be boxed up and sent to Germany where the 2 of them are living this year. A little something from home to make them smile! Without further ado .....
I've just finished a frog for my cousin Sarah ... I'm still getting used to attaching/sewing the pieces together so its arms are a little higher up than the pattern but i think it turned out really cute. I'm not going to name it because it is her frog, not mine! By the way, Sarah wanted a non-traditional frog which is why its not green :)
I have always been left handed, and quite proud of that. Nobody else in my family was left handed when I was growing up, so it sorta made me special. My husband is left handed, so that is also cool - we related on that level. The level that only left handers know, about how sometimes it is difficult to do things with ease because of all those pesky right handers in the world thinking only of themselves.
As you saw in my previous post, I just finished my first crochet critter. I crochet left handed .... illustrations on how to do certain stitches are drawn or photographed using right handed crocheters. Normally this isn't much of a problem because I have pretty much all of the major things down in crocheting so I don't need to refer to those diagrams much. Except that every single piece of that critter was started with what's called an adjustable loop, so that it could be pulled tight and close the circle at the beginning of the piece. The only instructions I could find on how to do an adjustable loop were, yep, illustrated with right handed crocheters. Now, you'd think it would just be as easy as "flipping it around" but the way you are supposed to hold the loop and crochet around the yarn is just weird to begin with, I hardly understood how they were doing it in the picture in the first place. So, I did what I typically do as a left hander in this right handed world ... I figured it out on my own.
Now, don't misunderstand ... I LOVE being left handed and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It would just be nice if right handed people who were writing/ illustrating/ photographing instructions for something, would think about us left handed folks and throw us a bone.
Labels: crochet, left-handed
I've finished my first crochet critter! It's a doll of sorts, I got the pattern in Crochet Today magazine which I've really been enjoying. It's a little crooked or lopsided but I think its really cute! What should I name it????? I'm taking suggestions :) Update: Thanks to my friend Tiffany, the critter is now named Pepe! Yay!!!
Is it any wonder I'm having issues learning how to crochet with those instructions? Actually I'm doing better than I thought I would be. I understand most thing in the patterns - but every once in a while I just get stuck and try as I might I can not find the answer online. My s-Mother has a crochet lesson tonight and she's gonna give me the lowdown to see if its something I might want to go to as well for some pointers on the less obvious things when working by a pattern.
I know I sound like its not fun .. that is mostly because I have a very scratchy and sore throat right now. I actually am loving my new hobby of crochet. I am still doing simple shapes with straightforward type yarns (read: worsted wool) but my stitches are getting more even and I'm getting faster. I have several skeins of yarn, found out which crochet hooks I like best (Boye), have a gauge measure, stitch markers, and several books. I've even subscribed to a crochet magazine that has tips and tricks as well as cool patterns in each issue.
As soon as I have my next piece (attempting a poncho at the moment) ready, I will post some pictures!
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