December Snow

Same view, 2 different days. It looks much prettier when it is not snowing at the time of the picture. The second picture reminds me of pictures from my childhood where the colors are starting to fade.

I have felt very lucky that I can work from home today. Probably tomorrow too, since the temperature is not planned to go above freezing so the snow will turn to ice. If I worked closer to home --

like I used to! -- I would be more willing to driving in but it seems silly to risk my life to drive 23 miles with those idiots who don't think they need to slow down when it is icy out.

Caitlin Likes her Afghan

Finally got to give Caitlin her afghan. She seemed to really like it. Of course, she is spending the winter -- their summer in Australia so it is folded up on the end of her bed here in Seattle. If she was home today, I suspect she would be using it! It is cold out and has been cold for several days now.

Does it look familiar? Yep, it is the background for my Blog heading!

Hooded Scarf

I createad 2 scarves for the NW Family Holiday campaign. The first one I made I did not like the pattern or the yarn that well. This one turned out well. I used yarn I received at the Knit & Crochet Show. On the last day of the show, they had a number of hooks, needles and yarn free for the taking.

I took this yarn and created this scarf. I have 2 balls left which I plan to create a scarf for the Warm for Winter project. However, since the blessing is tomorrow morning, I suspect it will have to be the first scarf I make for next year.

You Light Up My Life...

Lighted crochet hooks! I thought they were hocky until I started riding in a carpool. It is very dark in the morning when we head off to work (6:20 am) and especially in the back seat, I could not see my crocheting! What is the point of riding in a carpool if I can't listen to my book on mp3 and crochet while we ride. These solved my problem! I can really see my crocheting AND I can even use it to count my stitches.

I have been working on the Lion Brand Yarn Crochet Along project. It is surprising how often I miss a stitch on the simple blocks I have been making!

Herrschners had a great sale on them! They were only $3.99 a piece. That is pretty reasonable even for un-lit hooks. Since I was placing an order, I also ordered the afghan kit which has a pattern I have been searching for over the past several years. I haven't started it yet but it looks so lacy and I wanted to see how then made look like it is in layers -- my fear is that i have to sew them together!

Pet Sweater and Blanket

I found a new favorite site -- crochetkitten.com! It has many pet items but also other free patterns. As you can see by the picture, Baby was NOT the model for the sweater. I knew I would never get her in it and I didn't want to cover it in cat fur -- any more than it is just by my working on it!

I used Sensations Multi-Brite for the center of the sweater and blanket and trimmed it with Lion Brand Jiffy Wine.

I bought the Wine colored yarn to help fill out the second Linus project blanket I made. I bought a second skein of the Sensations yarn when I realized I did not have enough for the blanket and learned my lesson about buying enough at the same time because the dye lots were VERY different.

So, I tore out the additional rows. So then it was too small, so I edged

it with the Jiffy yarn. It was not very easy to find a color that went with the yarn, Jiffy was the best match.I double-crocheted onthe short ends and singled across the sides that were ok.

Towel and WashCloth Set

Well, I finally finished the towel and washcloth set. I found the pattern on the Coats & Clark site. I even bought the eco-cotton blend yarn. It feels so soft! However, I found a cotton yarn at A New Yarn that matched the Mary Kay containers I planned to combine with the towel and cloth for the Workplace Giving Auction.

The first time I made the towel. I did not make the 8 sqaures (4 for each end of the towel)

at the same time. So, when I went to make the 4 for the end of the towel, I grabbed the wrong hook -- the downside of the Clover Ergo hooks, they are all the same color -- they were too big. Which I did not notice at first. The second error I made was slip stitching the 4 squares to the center of the towel instead of sewing them. This made it real puffy which may have been why I didn't catch the size error.

I didn't see the error until I brought it to the Seattle Crochet Guild meeting! Fortunately, I only showed it to a few people before I realized the errors.

So, today, I finished the towel for the second time. It came out MUCH better. While I was at our meeting, I bought the last 2 skeins of the same cotton (we have our meetings at A New Yarn). This time I made all 8 squares at once and I even sewed the 2 groups of 4 together at the same time so I used the same process.

I had to take apart the old towel to used some of the yarn for the new towel. It took me a while to find the ends I had woven in -- that is a good thing! I always feel like my ends are so obvious.

Finger Puppets

I also made finger puppets for the auction along with their own little container. The directions were from Crazy Crochet. This book is geared toward children to the patterns are pretty general. Basically, make a rectangle as tall as your finger and wide enough to go around.

It said to then sew it together and THEN put the face on. It was much easier to put the face on before sewing it closed. It suggested hair for the girls and hats for the boys.

The next project was creating milk and cookies. So I used the pattern for the mike glass as the container for the puppets

Gecko Bookmark and snake

I created a Gecko bookmark and a bending Snake for the workplace giving auction at work. I have not made toys before. I was a little worried but I think they turned out okay.

Both sets of instruction were a little lacking but I was able to figure out most things. On the Gecko pattern, it did not tell you to slip stitch onto the leg after making the 3 toes. If you do not, they are more in a line instead of how they appeared in the pattern picture.

For the snake it said to put in craft wire. However, when I got to the store, there were SEVERAL different weights of the wire AND it was $5 for the smallest container. I only needed one foot but I would have to buy significantly more PLUS a set of wire cutters. So I used a cigar filter cleaner instead. It is not quite strong enough but it worked!

I have the googly eyes left over from making candy cane raindeers with my nieces back when they were young and wanted to that type of activity :)

Check Out Ravelry

Ravelry is a network of Crocheter, knitters and all "fiber" crafts. It takes a bit of time to get invited to set up an account. but once you do you have a wealth of information at your fingertips. As well as a ton of groups both local and international. I have already been able to find patterns for some projects!

I quickly found a pattern for a chemo cap using Baby Clouds yarn (one of my many stash!) for a friend is WAY too young to be battling cancer.

I am on a committee at work to work on our Workplace Giving auction (I have already submitted 2 afghans, hat/scarf set as well as a crochet Gecko bookmark/snake/crayon kids item. During our meeting this week, they were talking about creating items for pets so I quickly found some patterns for "cuddle mats" and of course toys!

Crochet and Knit Show in Portland

Last weekend I went to 1 and 1/2 days of the Knit and Crochet Show -- Should be named Crochet and Knit show, in my opinion. I attended one class. It was a great time. I bought too much yarn -- if that is possible.

I also took a knitting class -- a free drop in class sponsored by Coats and Clark. Knitting would be fine if there just were hooks at the end of those pesky needles!

Check out some of the photos I took while there.