The Felting Disaster

Hello,
 How is everyone today? What a beautiful day we have had here. It started out in a crazy way. Last Friday the blacktop on our driveway was redone and we weren't able to park on it for three days. I took my car to work and left it there. I pulled it into the driveway at work, I had permission and knew it would be safe there. Yesterday I told Will we should go get it before it got too late. I don't work until 7:00am and the spot I had the car in is for the 6:30am staff member. She wouldn't have cared, but I didn't want my car in her spot. I ended up falling to sleep before we could go get it and bring it home. I got up at 4 this morning, as usual, had my coffee, showered, got dressed. Everyone was still asleep and it was only 4:45. The sun was a dim light on the horizon so I took off and walked to work to get the car and bring it home before my co-worker came in and needed her spot. I get all the way down there and turn the corner and the car wasn't there. My heart dropped to my stomach. I couldn't figure out what the heck. I have the only set of keys to the car and I had them with me. I got back home and looked down a side street and there the car was. Our driveway was still taped off. I don't know how Will even knew where to find the keys. I change bags all the time and how he found them I don't know. They weren't even in the bag I carried all weekend. Needless to say I was relieved. The whole walk home I was hoping that he had somehow come and got it. He was just being a good hubby. It was Mother's Day after all. I don't even drive the car very much. I have been walking to work and the grocery store here in town. Gas has gotten so expensive, I feel guilty driving the thing if I don't really need to. Our other car is a little Saturn that gets great gas mileage, Will drives that to work. He works down in Iowa City. I work 3 blocks from my house.

 After coming home from work I decided I finally had time to felt the bag I had crocheted a couple of weeks ago. I have made four felted bags before I attempted this one. They all turned out really nicely and I gave all of them away as gifts. This was well over a year ago, I wasn't blogging or on Ravelry yet and didn't take any photos. This one did not come out.

For one thing the top is so much wider than the bottom and it turned out too short. Should have made it three times deeper. I made it exactly the same way I made the last one, but this one did not work. The good thing is that once a crocheted piece is felted, you can cut it. I will turn it into something else. I had to laugh. I won't even explain the process since it didn't work out. My plan had been to do a felting tutorial. Ha ha.
 I did get some really nice yarn last week. I had heard about Debbie Bliss Andes but never seen it or worked with it. I got 10 hanks of it. It is really soft, really pretty and so far I love working with it. I am making a shawl with it. Here is the yarn.

This was my Mother's Day project. I rolled all of the yarn into balls. No one was awake, it was 4 or so in the morning, I had my coffee and my yarn. Soon into this my little daughter woke up gave me my Mother's Day presents. I got  a box of chocolate, Adele 21 and a card Autumn made me. It was a nice day. It has been a nice weekend altogether. We weren't even looking and we found a house. Yay! We will be moving in July. Yay! We have been pretty couped up in this tiny little place.
 I still have a couple of WIPs. My granny ripple is almost done. I think I will wait to update on that until it is finished. I am very close. Maybe by the weekend I can show it finished.
 I will talk to everyone soon.  :)

Quick Update

Hello everyone,
 How is everyone today? I am doing well. I haven't been on the computer much lately. I don't feel like I have been any busier than usual, but for the last couple of weeks I haven't managed to post much. Here or on Ravelry. I am working on several projects that I would like to finish before I start a new one. My Stylin Ripple is pretty close to being finished.

It is about 2/3 done. I may actually finish it this week.
 I have also been working on another motif for an idea I had for a scarf. I have been playing with sock yarn for the last couple of weeks. I love how soft it is and some of the color combos are so pretty. This will be a simple scarf made up of blocks.

I see that I need to get a better shot so you can see how pretty the motif is. I like this project because it fits in a tiny little bag in my purse and I can take it anywhere. I have 20 of the 40 squares that I need. This one isn't taking too long either.
 I have been planning a post on how to make a felted crochet bag, I just need to felt it. I hope to do it tonight when I get home from work, I love making felted things. I am going to look at a house this evening after work so I don't know how much fun crafty stuff I will really get done. We don't even know if we are going to move yet. At the end of last week I saw a little house here in town become available. We moved from a big old drafty house to this tiny place. I have enjoyed my time here, but I think it is time to move on. We knew I was having my knee replaced and the old house would have been impossible for me to get around in when I was still using a walker and cane. I was off work for almost 6 months. I am good now, my surgery will be a year ago next month. My new knee is stronger than ever and I have been back at work since October and back to full-time since February. Time to move on.
  That is what I have been up to.  Hopefully, I can get the felted bag post done and finish a few more projects. I get bored blogging about the same projects week after week. I love it when they are finished, mostly because I can start something new. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and I will talk to everyone soon. :)

My Projects

Hello everyone,
 I haven't been on the computer much lately. I have been working on a couple of projects though. I have 86 rows on my Granny Ripple.

More than halfway done. Yea! I made crocheted bag that is going to be felted. I will do a separate post on that.

I made a few motifs out of a book that I have had for a while.

I have been trying out sock yarn lately and I love it. This is going to become a shawl.

I love these flowers, not sure what I am going to do with them right now.

I am going to make a scarf out of this pattern.
 The last thing I have been working on is the Amiga Cowl with the Everything Zen group on Ravelry. This is really slow going for me, but I keep working on it.

I am only on the third row of the knit and purl part. I did go back and pull out the yarn and pick up the stitches with the needles. I had done it with a crochet hook because I was frustrated. It took forever, but I finally got it. Everyone will be done with this project long before I am. That's ok though.

Sunday and Croissants

Hello,
 How is everyone today? It is a very pretty Sunday. A bit chilly, but I prefer that. This week I finished my bag for the CAL I was working on with my favorite group on Ravelry, Everything Zen. Come on by and check us out. Here is the bag.

I love this bag. I gave it to my friend Heather. She runs the daycare/preschool where I work. She is going to use it to carry supplies in for her 6 month old daughter. I am lucky, I work in the nursery and get to take care of that sweet little baby. I have to admit that by Friday afternoon, I am ready for the weekend, but I love taking care of the little babies. My partner, Ashleigh, and I take care of eight people under the age of 18 months. We spend a lot of time laughing. Ashleigh is also 7 months pregnant and soon we will have her little boy in there too. Yeah!
 I have also been working on a KAL/CAL project. The crochet part is all done.

I have never worked with sock yarn before. The crochet hook is 2.75 mm. I conquered that no problem. The knitting is not as easy. I was trying to pick the stitches when I decided it was time for a break and thought I would write my blog post. I got so frustrated I ended up using the crochet hook to pull the yarn through and then put it on the knitting needle. Have I mentioned I am not that experienced of a knitter. I do ok with heavier yarn and bigger needles. It is fun though and I am learning a lot. The name of this pattern is the Amiga Cowl. The bottom is pentagons that are crocheted. Then you pick up stitches around the neck and put a ribbed cowl neck on it. The pentagons are supposed to all be connected and then use circular needles to add the knit part. My good friend, Lisa, suggested using straight needles and attaching the pentagons to each other at the end. I think she is using straight needles too. This should be entertaining though, to follow my progress. I have nobody here to help me in person. My fellow Ravelry buddies have been emailing me like crazy with advice.
 This morning was spent baking. My usual Sunday routine. I made chocolate chip cookies and then I made these little guys.

My favorite pastry in the whole world is a chocolate croissant. Even though we live less than 20 miles from two of Iowa's larger cities, and there are plenty of bakeries in both of these cities, I haven't been able to get my hands on one for months. The Panera Bread in Coralville, where I usually get one if I am down there shopping, hasn't had them for ages. So, I decided it was high time I figured these things out. I will admit that I cheated. I am NOT going to try to make puff pastry. I bought the frozen kind and cut it into small squares and filled them with dark chocolate.

Can you say Yum! They are only about 2 inches long and I ate two. Which brings me to my next subject.
 I had my knee replaced last summer, as you know if you read my blog regularly. I did really well all summer and didn't gain any weight at all. Then, boom, I don't know what the heck happened. I was a size 12 or 14 depending on the brand of clothing. Now I am up to a 16.  I am so ashamed of myself. I probably wouldn't be quite so bothered but I lost 140 lbs. a few years ago and lately have been freaking out. I don't want to get back up to anywhere near my previous wt. I was 340 lbs. at my heaviest. I follow Lucy, In The Sky and she has recently started a weight loss program. I love her and her blog. She got me motivated. The chocolate croissants were my send off to sweets. I never really wanted my blog to be about my weight, but maybe it will help me be accountable. So I started walking to work and now I need to cut out the sweets and snacks and start an exercise program. Hopefully I won't bore anyone with talk of my diet and exercise, but I have to do something. It kind of stinks that I know how to make just about anything I crave. Lol.
 Lastly, I am getting ready to start  a couple of new projects. I will post about them later this week, I will also show progress on my knitting. And wt. program. Happy Earth Day! Talk to all of you soon. :)

A Giveaway, A Swap and Tuesday's Tallies

Hello,
 This has been a great week. At the end of last week I had two really nice parcels waiting for me when I got home from work. One was from Germany and the other from England. I love getting things, other than bills, in the mail. He he. A few weeks ago I won a giveaway from Barbina, Little Things Made With Love. She made a really neat hook holder and held a giveaway. I couldn't believe it but I won. I had been planning on making a holder for my favorite hooks. They are from Hobby Lobby and have Bamboo handles. Bates also has bamboo handled hooks, but the Hobby Lobby ones have a little bit more of a pointed head. I love them and have been slowly collecting them in every size. Here is the hook holder she made. It is gorgeous.

The little ornament on the right hand side says Made With Love.

The hook holder is full of goodies. Some really pretty stitch markers, needles, pins, a tape measure, scissors, and size 4 hook. Underneath the red flaps is where you put your crochet hooks or small knitting needles. I need to take some better photos. It was dark in here (it is always dark in here) and the pictures I took blurred out the definition. It is a really neat hook holder. I love it. Thank you Barbina!
 The other package I received was from my friend Tracy in England. Tracy and I became friends when we were partnered for a swap in a group on Ravelry. They did the best job ever when they paired us up. I love Tracy. She had wanted to try some cotton from my favorite store, Hobby Lobby. We decided to do a yarn swap. This is the lovely, wonderful yarn she sent me.

 The twisted hanks on top are hand dyed. Underneath was even more awesomeness.

There is some Rico Creative Cotton and some Mayflower Cotton.

The hand dyed yarn and the Rico are worsted wt. and the Mayflower is fingerling. I can't wait to make something with these. Tracy has not yet gotten what I sent her. I hope she gets it soon.
 I made a bit more progress on my Stylin Ripple too. I am more than halfway there on this blanket.

With the leftover Stylecraft I have been making some little squares. Not sure yet what I will do with them, I just like them.

I hope everyone has a great week! I will talk to everyone soon.

Wednesday

This week is flying by. We had a nice Easter here, just the three of us. The Easter Bunny came. Lots of chocolate was eaten. It was a really nice weekend.
 I have gotten a lot done on my Stylin Ripple. I have a couple more rows and I will be at the halfway mark. I think I like the color combo now. I have changed my mind too many times with this blanket.

I have also been working on a bag with Everything Zen group on Ravelry. It has a wheel motif and I had gotten a few rows done when it occurred to me that I should be turning at the ends of the rows.

I went back and started the rows over and I don't see too much difference.

Before I turned at the end of the rows, the wheels looked a little off and were more open  on one side. I am happy I did it over, but some of the wheels are open on the sides. I am making the straps for the handle right now.
 I am still practicing my knitting for an upcoming KAL/CAL with Everything Zen. I have never done a combo project. We start on April 16. The yarn is sock yarn and the knitting needles are 2.25, I think, and the crochet hook is a C hook. Really small. I will have to show my work as I go on that one. It might be funny. I will talk to everyone soon. Have a great week.

Happy Friday!

Hello My Friends,
 What a week this has been. Some pretty nice things have been going on, but first I have a little Ta Dah. My daughter is going to a birthday party this afternoon and the birthday girl is really a sweet little thing. She reminds me of a cute little mouse. So that is what Autumn asked me to make for her. Can I tell you how happy I was that my daughter wanted me to make a  toy for one of her friends. I subscribe to Crochet World magazine, I really like it. Every issue has at least 2 things I end up making. The Patchwork Puppy I made last Sunday came from this issue too. Here is the little Ballerina Mouse.

It only took a few hours to make. I sat down after work last night and worked it up before bed.

I have been on  a toy making kick lately. I am still working on that mystery toy. I will post it before Easter, and I love it. I just can't show what it is yet.
 The cool news is that my good friend Lisa, at Karisma's Kraft, has started a wonderful group on Ravelry. She asked me to moderate with her and of course I said yes. The group is for knitters and crocheters. It is a very friendly and happy place where we are going to do all sorts of CALs and KALs. Yes, I am going to jump in and start to knit. I learned how last year and have never finished a project. Time to figure it out. The group is informal and everyone is invited to host their own CALs/KALs. The moderators will always be hosting something too. There is no pressure to join in on every project, you can watch, join in or just admire others work. We already have 15 members and the group just started Wednesday. I love Karisma, she came up with the name and banner. Here it is...

I am very proud and excited about this group. Come on over and check us out. We would love to have you as a member. I will talk to everyone soon. :)     

P.S. I just found out from one of my Ravelry friends that the link is not working for our group. Here it is.
                                                   Everything Zen