More Fall Crafting

I've been busy making more crafty stuff since the Halloween swap.  I've also been out of town for work for two weeks, so that's my excuse for a late update :)

I've made a couple of scarves - the first is made from wool that was hand painted for me by a friend almost 2 years ago.  I used the One Skein Scarf pattern from the Happy Hooker book. The second scarf was made using left over Caron Simply Soft from the Silky Soft Scarf free pattern on Ravelry.  I think I'm going to give both away as Christmas Gifts.

I also crocheted some fingerless mitts from the same leftover Caron.  These already went to Ruth at work :o)

One of my favorite recent projects is a felted cloche, that was also crochet. I used Lambs Pride worsted weight in black and white, instead of the suggested Plymouth yarn.  I've felted Plymouth before (on accident) so should have used that brand.  The Lambs Pride felts, but not as small as I wanted.  Especially the white bit.  I've heard from others that lighter colors, especially white, don't felt as well in general though.  Even though it's a little big for me I still really like it.  As long as I fold up the brim it looks pretty cute.  This was made using another free pattern on Ravelry, the Beacon Street Cloche.

 Finally I did another swap on Craftster.  It was the Once You Pop Winter Edition swap.  In the Once You Pop swap, you clean out a Pringles can, decorate it, and fill it with crafty goodies.  They're a lot of fun and you don't have to craft a ton to fill the can.  In the picture you can see my can at the back.  I knit my partner a lacy scarflette (short scarf)   using a feather pattern from a stitch dictionary and the remains of a pound of love Lion brand yarn.  The hook case and stitch marker holder I used left over acrylic in pink & cream using the  Wave-Stitch Coin Purse pattern from Crochet That Fits.  I also made her ornaments, two from shrinky dink that I stamped on and then colored in, and two from polymer clay.  I really like the little snowman, and may make myself one.  He doesn't have any arms, cause I liked him better without them.

Now I'm looking forward to having almost two weeks off over Christmas to get more crafting done.  I'm hoping to get the center panel of an embroidered quilt top finished, finish the Christmas table runner for my MIL, finish the sweater I'm knitting, and make significant progress on hand quilting my pretty quilt top I posted awhile ago.  Of course I'll also be spending time with friends, Jerry's family, and my family so probably won't get all of that done!

Halloween Swap - lots'o'stuff

I recently participated in a swap on craftster.org for Halloween.  We needed to send out 13 packages for the 13 days of Halloween.  Here's what I made:

First up is a bag that folds into it's own pocket.  I got the pattern from my mom.  Funny thing is - she had the bag cut out already, I just had to assemble it - with only half of the instructions.  I didn't put it together correctly but it came out nice anyway.

 My favorite project was the wreath I made. I bought a cardboard floral wreath at Micheal's and wrapped it in black felt that was glittery.  Then I added skulls and bats.  The bats came sparkly, and I added the glitter to the skulls.  My original idea was to wrap the wreath with a black feather boa instead of the felt, but those suckers are expensive.




I did two thread crochet projects; a spider and web bookmark, and a bat filet.  The bookmark pattern I found on ravelry and can be found here: http://sandyfroglegs.blogspot.com/2008/04/free-spider-to-web-bookmark-pattern.html.  The filet is from the Happy Hooker book.  This was my first filet project and I may make a version with multiple bats to hang up for next Halloween.  I didn't realize how easy filet crochet was until I tried it.  It's all double crochet and makes pretty pictures :)

I've had the Big Ass Book of Crafts forever, and now I've finally done a project out of it.  I made a leaf garland instead of a curtain.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I was a little afraid it would look like a kindergarten art project.  When it's all spread out it looks really nice though.  I picked colors that would go with my my swap partners decor.  I may make this project for myself in browns and greens for our mantle.

 

Next up: a simple tri-fold wallet done in skully fabric.  This is an easy project.  I took two pieces of the fabric, sewed them wrong side together, turned them right side out, sewed shut the small turning hole, and pressed the fabric.  Then I folded it into the wallet shape and pressed again.  Finally sew up the sides, leaving the flap free, and attach a fastener.

The knit project I threw in was a skully washcloth.  Pattern can be found here: http://www.blackrayne.com/pages/skully.html

Finally was a project I've been wanting to try for awhile.  I saw these on craftster a few months back and loved them.  Washer necklaces.  The tutorial is here : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=329854.0.  I chose two paper patterns that I thought were Halloweeny and went for it.  There was a third, but the washer was too small and it looked bad so I didn't send it.  People may be getting a version of these with their Christmas presents.

All of my other presents were either store bought or had been posted about before.  Well except for the poly clay miniatures I made for her dollhouse.  I forgot to take pictures of those so just imagine really small pumpkins, a cauldron, and a witches broom.

Birthday present

I've got a few projects done that I need to post but the only thing I have a picture of is Fran's birthday present.  I've been wanting a new jewelry box or jewelry holder for awhile, so while looking for ideas I came across a fabric hanging holder.  Jerry thought his mom would like it so we made her one for her birthday.

I got the idea from a seller on Etsy.  I used a fat quarter to make the fabric part and Jerry cut and sanded the dowel.  I'm not sure what kind of wood it is, but it is a hardwood dowel that we got at Home Depot.  Jerry also put the hooks in.  I really like how it turned out and may make some more around Christmas time.

A quick update

Here are a few of my most recent projects, both crochet.


First up we have my first (and possibly only) pair of crochet socks.  I used left over sock yarn from my last pair of knit socks.

These had an after-thought heel and I didn't particularly enjoy making them.  An afterthought heel is when you make the entire sock and then go back and pick up stitches in the heel hole, crochet in circles decreasing by two every round.  I just don't like how they turned out.  I usually like to crochet more than I like to knit, but socks are an exception.

Next up is a mobius I made using Misti Alpaca Chunky Solids.  I also bought a fancy wooden L hook to use.  This was an expensive project, but I love how it turned out.

I was inspired to make this by seeing Andee Graves's published pattern in Crochet!  The magazine messed up her mobius pattern but she explained to me how it actually worked in order to make it a true mobius instead of twisting after or working on both sides of the chain.  I wanted something in a chunky yarn so didn't use her pattern.  So I made up my own pattern after flipping through some pattern books for inspiration.  This was a quick project and will be a really warm wrap.  I'm a little afraid to block it because alpaca can grow or bloom (kind of fluffing out) when it gets wet and it's already almost too big for me.

I've also dabbled again in card making.  I made a card for Amy and Scott's wedding but I haven't pulled that picture off of my camera yet.  It came out pretty cute though.  Stamping tip of the month . . . When re-inking a stamp pad remember to put the ink dispenser on the pad.  If you don't the ink doesn't come out, then when you touch the ink bottle the ink leaks out under your fingernails and you get to go to a wedding with purpley-black finger nails :)

My first knitted sweater

This is my first knitted sweater.  I chose to make a baby sweater because it would be quicker and not as involved if I screwed something up.  I think it came out pretty cute.  I had a little trouble attaching the sleeves eavenly but got them to at least look good and be wearable.  I tried a new way (to me) of seaming the garment.  I used a crochet hook and slip-stiched the pieces together.  I love how it worked and will be using this in the future.  I got the idea from a tutorial on how to reclaim the yarn from store bought sweaters.

I've started the actual quilting on my quilt, am slowly working on crochet socks, and have started a Christmas latch-hook project.  I'll post pics once I actually finish this stuff (which could be awhile.)

I've been pretty busy for work lately.  I took a trip to CA and one to OR last month.  This month I'll be going back to OR, making a stop in the Boise area to see family for a weekend, and then going to the Head Start Research Conference in DC.  If anybody is going the American Indian Alaska Native HSRC will be doing a poster presentation on Tuesday of the conf :o)

I also squeezed in a trip last month to Kemmerer to see my brother.  He is doing pretty well.  I snapped a pic of him with his cast on his nose but haven't uploaded it yet.  My vote is still that he doesn't get a new Harley but I don't think my vote counts.

Hopefully everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Ours was pretty busy.  I had hoped to have a calm, do nothing weekend after all of the work travel but it didn't work out that way.  Friday night I got to hang out with Linda.  It was nice to sit and talk and just hang out. Saturday we ran errands and got new phones (Jerry & I both got the Motorola Droid).  Then we went and played poker.  I was the first person to go out (kinda) :-P.  Others actually were out before me but they all bought back in.  Jerry went out right before being in the money.  Sunday we went up to Ft Collins and saw Maile baptized.  It was great being with family for the morning.  Then we came home cleaned and went out to dinner with Fran and Tim.  It was a lot of fun but the restaurant was a first and last time choice.  Finally yesterday we went to a bbq.  Now I'm back at work and wondering what happened to my long weekend. :o)

Two Months of Work

I finally finished my Pretty as a Peacock shawl!  It took me 2 months and 2 days to finish.  I used 9 skeins of Louet Gems fingering weight yarn.  It is so pretty and I'm sooo very glad it's done.  After I finished the last row with peacock feathers I was tempted to bind off and be done, but it was worth it to do the extra 100 or so rows :-P  The second picture is a detail shot of the pattern.

My second finished project from this weekend is a baby blanket.  I actually got to go to Fiddlesticks Stitch n Bitch for the first time in awhile and finished it there.  I crocheted this using a pattern out of the Happy Hooker book.  It's just basic granny squares done in worsted weight yarn.  It calls for a bigger hook than normal and I really liked how that affected the drape of the squares.  With the stitches being so loose the fabric came out softer than usual.  I made this blanket to use up some of my stash yarn and tried to make it ok for either a boy or a girl.  Someone in my office is having a baby girl in the next few months, so it looks like they'll be getting a gift!

Jerry and I haven't been up to anything too exciting lately.  Last weekend we got to go take a tour of the Denver Mint with Linda and Karen.  I remember the tour being much more interesting when I was a kid.  On Saturday I got to go to Elitch with Karen, Jason and Linda.  I haven't been since Adele moved back to the UK so that was fun.  I am not as tough as I used to be, some of those rides that used to be so great now make my stomach a little unhappy.  The company made it all worth it though. 

Finished Quilt Top!

I finally finished the quilt top I've been working on!  I started it a looong time ago (more than a year) and kept putting off working on it.  It's a beautiful top, but I didn't do a very good job getting the rows lined up exactly so the bottom and top boarders had to be trimmed up a bit.  Now I just need a backing and to quilt it.  Mom gave me her quilting frame awhile back so I'm currently planning on hand quilting.  It's a queen size, so I may decide to switch to machine quilting.

The second pic is a picture of the border fabric close up.  The weird parenthesis looking thing is a string I didn't notice till posting the picture.  The border is actually a green fabric with the circles in a darker green.  My camera didn't capture the colors very well.  Now I just need to figure out if I want to keep, give away, give to charity, or sell it when finished.

Ravelympics are Finished & Rocky Horror

I participated in the Ravelympics this year.  It's an event on Ravelry.com that coincides with the Olympics (just in case the name didn't give it away).  You get a digital badge for each event you compete in.  Not much insintive but I did want to challenge myself to use up some of my stash, work on making my threadwork even, and finally make some Christmas ornaments.  So I give you my Christmas stars (please excuse the over-glittering.)

 

On the life front things are pretty much the same.  I went to my first theater showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday night with Linda.  I've wanted to do the audience participation showing of this since I was in Laramie and it was pretty fun.  Sadly, I was very tired by the time it was over (2 a.m.) so I must be getting old.  I did think it was fun, but I'm not sure if I'd do it again.  Maybe if I took a nap first :o)

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Jerry and I had repainted the kitchen.  We were hoping to go on a group trip to Vegas with our tax return but since no one else can make it we are now trying to decide between new counter-tops or a new couch.  Comfort or resale value, decisions, decisions.

Socks that fit!

I finished my first pair of socks that fit me!  Not only that but I modified my first knit pattern.  I modify crochet patterns all the time because I just get how it works much more than I do with knitting.  It was a pretty easy mod, I just made the lace pattern go down the top of the foot instead of ending at the ankle like the pattern called for.  Here they are:

I haven't worked on my quilt at all recently.  I'm not sure where that motivation went but it's gone.  I signed up for a swap on craftster for an art journal page.  I haven't started my page yet but have some ideas. 
I'm also working on making a bunch of crocheted star ornaments for the Ravelympics.  I meant to make them for Christmas and just ran out of time so I figured now was a good time.  I've done about 7 and I'm remembering how much of a pain thread work can be.  They look good though.  Haven't decided if I'm going to glitter them.
That's all for now.  I'm going to pajama jam at the Lamb Shoppe tonight so should get ready for that.  Hope everyone has a good weekend :)

CLASSy

The last week in January was a busy one for me.  I went to New Jersey to be trained in the Toddler CLASS.  It's a measure that will be used in our AIAN Head Start Research Center data collection, and is currently being used in the Baby FACES program.  Anyone who is involved in Head Start or Early Head Start has heard of FACES.  The rest of you are probably already board :o)  The training was in Plainsboro which is close to Princeton.  I unfortunately didn't get to see much of Princeton.  The night we went out for a group dinner I got a headache and had to go back to the hotel instead of exploring.  The worst part of the trip - I didn't have anything crafty to do.  I couldn't find my crochet hook before I left so just took books.  Jerry found the hook after I left in a very obvious place.  Seems normal for my life. :o)
On Saturday we helped DJ move.  It took awhile, but we got to eat at Roma's for a reward.  I'm not sure that Jerry liked it as much as I do, but I was happy.  Whoever came up with putting cream cheese in your carrolli/on your pizza was a genius.  I was exhausted when we got home, but we did manage to get up enough energy to go to Trent & Theresa's to play poker.  One round and I was done.  Actually not even one round.  I knew it was time for me to be done when I couldn't figure out how to break down my 500 chip to 100s after putting in my bet.  Simple math isn't so simple when you're tired.
On the crafty front I finished Kevin's hat before I left.  I like how it turned out, and hope he did too. 

Last night I finished Fran's gloves/mittens.  Since her hat was already finished I can take those over to her soon.

  

This week I'm hoping to work on the quilt some.  I only have 5 rows left to sew on (and then the boarder, and then quilting, and then binding) but only 5 rows left on the main part.  Friday we're having poker at our house.  I'm hoping for a good turnout, already looks promising.

A lesson in crafty terms

This week I got to use some terms that you may not all be familiar with.

First up we have frogging.  This is when you realize that the project you are working on has something wrong with it and you have to rip it out.  Rip-it sounding like ribbit, leads to frogging.  Like when you realize that you've put to many rows on a cuff for a crocheted pair of mittens.  No big deal you just frog back to where you  need to be.  Crochet is worked one loop on a hook at a time so much easier to frog back to certain point sense you don't need to worry about dropping stitches.  Or you can frog when you realize that the hat you are knitting is way too big and you have to frog the whole thing when you are 3/4 of the way done.  This sucks.  A lot.  Knitting takes me longer than crochet so there were hours of work that I just had to rip out.  Which leads to swearing, lots and lots of swearing.

The second word we are learning this week is tinking.  To tink is to knit backwards.  This happens when your brain freezes and you realize that you have worked row 10 of a chart on the restarted hat twice instead of continuing to row 11.  If mistakes are caught quickly tinking is not that bad.  If mistakes are found when doing lacework tinking is an evil spawn of the devil.

The final word for this week is gauge.  This is where you make a test swatch of fabric using your hook or needles and selected yarn for a project.  I did not bother to gauge the hat I am making because it is the third time I have made this hat.  It worked fine with size 8 needles in the past so I thought it'd be fine.  I had forgotten that until very recently I was always knitting through the back of every stitch causing my stitches to be twisted.  That meant that all my projects where much tighter than they would be done the correct way for the pattern (through the front of the stitch.)  I had to go down two needle sizes.  My friend Shelia is the tightest knitter in the world and usually has to go up needle sizes.  Now it appears that I am the loosest knitter I know.  Maybe we could figure out how to combine and be on gauge with the pattern requirements?

Muddy Wednesday

This last week has been a busy one.  I finished my mom's shawl and Jerry got a light installed over the sink in the kitchen. We now have light and can get the dishes clean on the first washing!  We need to get the wall retextured and painted where Jerry had to cut through the drywall.
Monday I got to go to dinner with Linda and Karen.  We had a nice time and got to eat some yummy unhealthy food at Cafe Jordano.
At work the University has set up a program (it started around the holidays) that donates four hours of time for employees to do volunteer work.  Matt at work set up a day for working at Habitat for Humanity for those that were interested.  So Wednesday that's what I did.  It was fun but also hard work.  We spent a lot of the time hammering nails into the flooring of the second floor.  A nail every four to six inches on the joists adds up to a lot of hammering.  Too bad they didn't have nail guns to use, would have gone a lot faster, and my hand and arm wouldn't have hurt so much :o)  It was also a muddy day, as you can see.

I actually got work done on the quilt this week, two more rows added and hopefully some more today after cleaning.  I started plum blossom mittens, and am almost done with them.  The first mitten has too big of a thumb and the finger part is a bit short.  I already grafted the top closed so since they're for me I'll make it work without undoing all my stitches.  I'm also working on a hat and some mittens with a flip top for my mother-in-law Fran.  The hat is almost done.  I'm hoping to finish the mittens and the hat at least tomorrow at Pajama Jam.

Kanitali

Look what I'm making for dinner :o)

It's called kanitali, and there are two things about this dish.  1.  I have no idea how it's supposed to be spelled and 2. it is yummy.  It is a family recipe from my Aunt Donna's family.  You cook the dumplings in ham broth.  I can't share the recipe, but I can share the recipe for ham broth.  I'm sharing because not even the Joy of Cooking cookbook has a ham broth recipe.  If you have any suggestions on how to make the broth better please share . . .

enough water to fill a stock pot 3/4 full

1 ham bone with meat left on (usually from leftover ham.)

1/2 onion

1 carrot or handful of baby carrots

1 stalk celery

salt & pepper
thyme
bay leaf

Add the ham bone and meat to the water.  Once the water is boiling add onion, course chopped, course chopped carrot (whole baby carrots), and celery chopped into 1-2 inch pieces.  Add the herbs. 
Let simmer for 2-3 hours.  Remove ham, onion, carrot, celery and herbs from the broth.
If you are using fresh thyme it will be easier to retrieve later if you tie it together with the bay leaf.  Put the onion, carrot, and celery in a blender with a cup of the broth.  Blend together and add back to the broth.  Either use the broth or store it for later.
Some tips
- I use powdered thyme for soups/broths because it just becomes part of the broth and doesn't have to be fished out. 
- The onion half just needs to be chopped in half and then take the skin off.
- If you want a thicker broth you can add a potato.  Make sure to blend it with the other ingredients to add back into the broth.
- My most helpful tip - I use a pasta pot that has a strainer that sits inside of the pan while everything is cooking.  When the broth is done cooking you can just lift it out and have all of the removable bits in the strainer.

Starting again

On the assurances of Krista and Shelia that they would read my blog I have decided to start blogging (again.)
Not much is going on in my life right now besides work and home, but that is enough. At work I'm pretty busy getting stuff ready for our data collection that is coming up for the American Indian Alaska Native Head Start Center. For that project I'm going to go to New Jersey at the end of this month for training in the Toddler version of the CLASS. Another place I've never been so that should be interesting.
At home the Christmas decorations are put away and it looks a lot more open without the tree. Jerry is thinking of rewiring the celing fans this weekend so the lights come on with the flip of a switch instead of having to use the remotes. After we go see Avatar on Saturday. I am planning on cleaning and being crafty.
Which brings me to the crafty stuff - right now I'm working on two projects mainly. I'm knitting a Swallowtail Shawl and trying to finish a quilt.
The shawl is for my mom and my first laceweight project. I have learned to closely read direction (a lesson I keep needing to re-learn.) When the directions say to nupp (k1, yo, k1, yo, k1) in ONE stitch that is really what you're supposed to do. I read the directions and missed the part where the nupp was all in one stitch. Which meant that I kept decreasing every other row instead of increasing. My extensive vocabulary of inappropriate language helped a lot in this situation.
The quilt is coming along slowly. Every time I use my sewing machine I have to fix the tension, so I get frustrated and quit. It will be nice when it's done though. I don't remember the pattern name or I'd share.