Crunch time...

Of course, it's not possible for me to actually get something done ahead of time so I'm now down to 4 days to complete the jacket for Baby Trey. As you can see here:



I have a bit to go before I finish. Not too much really, just a sleeve, then join everything and accent with the fun fur. Oh, and the zipper. I'm gonna need my mother-in-law's help for that. I can sew a straight line on a sewing machine, but zippers are out of my baliwick.

I also have been working on squares for the pastel swap I joined.



My other recent accomplishment was to dictate a pattern. I'm not sure how else to phrase that, because I didn't write it or originate it. I fell in love with this potholder I saw posted on Crochetville forum and since Cuddlefish did not know what the pattern stitches were in English, I set out to figure the pattern out. She gave me permission to post the pattern I came up with since it was not copyrighted in any way.


My version of the potholder

Post Double Crochet Potholder Pattern

So, now I need to finish the dreaded jacket...

Scarf frenzy!

On Friday, I went to the Hobby Lobby for yarn. I know, it's bad, it's terrible, it's really not good for the budget but I was just going to get a few skeins of yarn to complete a scarf I started. I had piked up this really yummy chunky weight Lion Brand Landscapes in Summer Fields and needed another color to complete the scarf. And I found some to die for SO soft Yarn Bee Italia in Genoan that I thought would be perfect for another scarf. And I got a ball of Patons Katrina in Dusk to go with it. And a couple others. Turns out, there was a bunch of it on sale - although I think the cashier was discounting more than he was supposed to. Well, it was such a great deal that I went back for more after I finished pilates at the gym. All in all, I got all this for $50!




So I finished both the scarves this weekend. And I still have enough yarn left to make more! My plan to make a bunch of scarves to sell may actually come to fruition... or I just may end up making scarves and ponchos for friends and relatives.

My bright idea

I thought it would be cheaper to make presents for people for Christmas this year. Hah! With the cool specialty yarns I like, no way. The yarn I bought to make the hat and jacket set for Trey - over $70. I actually am making progress with that - though I did learn his birthday isn't until the 24th, so I slowed down making it to work on other projects... bad me.

Had to get this book when I saw it...

buy me here!

Totally worth the buy - has a TON of great scarves in it. And not just because they're made of great yarn, the patterns are awesome and innovative too. Here's the one I just finished. Of kid mohair. Rowan Kidsilk Haze. Yummy!




Ignore the fact that I look like the village idiot - it's 1 o'clock in the morning and I photograph badly. So I figure that I'll give it to someone for Christmas. Helena or Sam, maybe. I've got about 5 other scarves marked in the book to whip up for presents. Can't wait!

I joined another swap - pastels and white. I can't help myself! And I've got my eye on a secret pals, a purse swap, and a yarn swap. I'd join more if there were more to join!

Crochet till your hand hurts!

So the saga continues... still no jacket, though I now have about 2/3 of it done. I just need to get the sleeves done, then put them together and add the trimmings.

I _have_ managed to finish some other things though. Drat that multitasking tendency!

I'm working on an afghan for a Christmas present - every year all the adults in my family swap gifts with one other member, chosen by paper slips in a hat - the thought being money saving, though of course we still end up getting gifts for the immediate family, the grandmas, the favorite cousins... oh well, it's a good idea anyway. So though they haven't drawn names yet, I thought I'd make a blanket, liked this design and started on it. If it doesn't work with the relative who's name I get, I can always use this for another gift. So here's one of the squares, of which there will be twelve -they're about 16 inches across.



Another X-mas gift - my lil sister is in love with all things Irish and so I thought I'd give Celtic crochet a try. It's complicated! You make small designs that you weave through other designs, then add on to that... the front looks completely different from the back, check it out:




So I didn't actually work on much today, I scraped popcorn off the hall bathroom ceiling instead!

My cats love it

Another project completed!

I'm so proud of myself. I start a dozen projects in a month, but it's not often that I can celebrate having completed three - four if you count completing all of my granny squares for the swap.

I managed to finish the afghan for my lil sis:


Now I just hope she likes it - I was halfway done with it when I learned she doesn't like the color purple! Maybe there's enough pink in it to make the purple fade into the background...

Here's the link where I got the pattern for the blanket - Ripple Afghan - though I added a row of double crochet around the outside and didn't do tassels because the yarn was bumpy/fuzzy and unraveled like a mother if it isn't knotted.

Now to see if I can finish the jacket on time...

Progress made?

So my older sister never got her birthday present from me - I ran out of time and money around her birthday - I had just closed on my first house. I'm hoping to see her this weekend and I wracked my brain to find a good gift. I finally went to J. Crew and bought her this cute tie silk purse with a chain link handle... and I whipped up this little wristlet.




The link where I found the pattern is here:Crochet Wristband

So I finished this last night, but didn't make any progress with the other two imminent projects due soon - my lil sis's afghan, whose birthday I'm going home for on Sunday - can I finish it on time?? - and the jacket set for baby Trey, whose birthday is, I think, next weekend.

The yarn craze struck again, I bought this yarn to begin a Celtic style afghan for my third sister for a Christmas present, that is, if I can get it done by then...

Crochet - Interrupted

Well, I haven't made any progress with the earring hanger. No surprise there. I'm not much of a serial person. I tend to read as many as 15 books at once. I have numerous home projects on the go. I crochet on multiple projects at any given time.

My current list of projects is a bracelet for my sister, a hat, boots and jacket set for a friend's baby, an afghan for another sister, a shawl, a whole load of granny squares to edge and put together into a blanket, a scarf, a flannel baby blanket edging, an afghan for an X-mas present, a baby blanket ... and an earring hanger.

Hurricane Katrina has put a bit of a crimp in my crocheting - our power has been out since Monday and hell if I can crochet by candlelight. I actually did finish my last granny square for a swap on Monday night, in the dark, but I didn't want to do that again. Now that the power is finally back on... it's crochet time! The first thing I started working on (after I threw away everything in the fridge and freezer) was to begin the bracelet for my sister. And I was hoping to try and get the jacket set and the afghan for my sister done, as those birthday occasions are coming up.

So maybe I'll get something done... but in the meantime, I'm going to attempt to post pics of some of my granny squares.