Ha! The Pattern of the Day

... Is the Love Bug! After February 1st, it will be something else. But... I knew (or hoped!) it would be posted again this year. Yay!

Squares

This one is in the form of a dishcloth, but.... it's still a square. ;) This is the dishcloth for the January dishcloth Knit A Long. (Shrek.) Yes, I know it should have been green... but... it is a 'secret' until the dishcloth is done. (That's half the 'fun' of the KAL.) So I have a cornflower blue Shrek. ;P I am going to be hosting the KAL for February, though. So I know what color to use. ;)

I have had these squares done for quite a while, but... they were going into this comfortghan for someone. And I didn't want to ruin the surprise... even though I don't think she reads my blog. Still. This is the whole afghan. It's huge!

These are four of the squares I did. I just made a granny square and sewed a duck motif I found somewhere online... I think it was on a baby's bubble outfit, or something... I wanted to buy Cupcakes' duck square but didn't have the money at the time so I had to use my peabrain. ;)

And regular granny squares... I have some more squares that I have had done for a while but I want to wait until I send them (sigh...) I have the box all ready to go. Just need to get to the post office when I get some time/money.

Mr & Mrs Love Bug & Friends...

Here are a few of the toys I am sending to the UC Davis. For kids who have cancer or other problems.... :( I took this picture before Mr. Love Bug got here....

Now he and the Mrs. are together... :D Here they are having a spot of tea, this morning... Hey, I never had a tea set when I was little. So I am making up for it now... I got those little cups at the WalMart where we used to live. Every time we went I would try and remember to bring some extra quarters for the 'game room' and so I could get myself a toy, too. :P I'm just an overgrown kid at heart...

I hate to split them up (although I know they will be when they get there, probably.) Oh well. I can make another set for myself. :P

I forgot to add: The turtle is Yarncat's Turtle. I made another one for our middle son. Just haven't taken a picture of that one yet.

Ami Love Bug and Swap Package

Well this is what I came up with. :D I think she's kinda cute. I have written up the pattern and posted it on my pattern blog.

I also recieved my Winter Blues Swap Package. I let the kids open it in the car. (They kind of destroyed the paper, but isn't it cute?!)

This is what IndigoSkye sent. A set of bamboo size four dpns. THE thing I wanted most. I love these needles. She sent a set of notecards inside a see through plastic envelope (?)~~ I love them. And a set of sticky notes. They're so cute. And, it says a 'dishcloth', but... it is so soft, I might just use it as a facecloth! It smells so lovely, too. Thank you, SnL (that's 'Stich n Locks)! I have your package ready to go I just need to find a suitable box to send it in. ;)

An RAOK (One I sent) :)

This was a while ago. Before we moved here, in fact. :P I just found out that the person I sent it to was away and didn't get her mail. It wasn't much of an RAOK, but.... I made her a card. (She likes piggies.) I looked and looked online for a free homemade card 'recipe' of a pig... I found a picture of one that I tried to copy. (Above.) And made up my own nerdy saying 'This Little Piggy~....

... Sent you and RAOK!' I'm a dork. I know it though. And I'm okay with it. ;P

I sent her one of my critter keychains (the pig, of course...)

And this square for her Crochetville Friendship Afghan. It also is pink, and a ribbon.... I read on her blog that she is keeping her blog pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. So I thought it would be perfect!! I sent an RAOK out three days ago, too. One of my peppermint bears, and stripey bears..... It's heading north. (Well I guess most everything is north of here, but....)

I have started (trying) to crochet my own (ami) version of a Love Bug. I am not real good at ami~ and especially making up my own, so we'll see how it goes.... this should be pretty easy though, as it isn't any arms/legs, ears, etc.... just mainly a body and wings. It should be pretty straightforward. I'll keep you posted.

I have also put a new button in my sidebar, as you may have already seen. It is to donate squares for afghans for kids with cancer. :( This really breaks my heart, kids with cancer. So I am going to try and make some squares to donate to her.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes for my insomnia. I hope it will go away eventually. Lisa, I don't know if you saw my comment on your new tea cozies at Crochet Mania.... (I said I was going to make some green tea and use the apple tea cozy I made...) Well I did, and DU-UH!! Green tea has caffeine! I had two cups (big ones) of it. That *might* have contributed to my insomnia last night, too. I have a big problem with drinking too much caffeine/not being able to sleep... Today I am going to venture out and go to Whole Foods and see if I can't find some echinacea tea... (I think it's caffeine free~ if not, I'll get decaf!) Sheesh...

UGH!!!! Insomnia!!

I hate this.... I don't feel good at all, and you would think all I would want to do would be sleep! Well... I do, but I can't. It's really bugging me. This is a vicious cycle that has to be stopped.

One of the things I was thinking about is the love bug (speaking of 'bugs' lol) that I made about two years ago (or more?) Who knows... I thought I saved the pattern to my computer but I can't find it.... Waaaaa! Maybe Annie's Attic will post it again this year? Maybe I printed it out and just have to dig through my messy folder of printed patterns... (Actually it isn't even a folder anymore, it's two sides ripped apart on top of a big pile.... I should take a picture of it.) :P

Knitting progress....

....on the Central Park Hoodie. The color is a little off. It is Frosty Green. I'm excited with the way it is coming along.

Not much other news. I did get a hair cut. At least six inches cut off. My hair is short again. About chin length. I can flip it up or under. Today it is kind of both. Our water is so hard here that my hair was beginning to feel (and look) like straw. I asked the girl cutting my hair about it; and she said to use a clarifying shampoo once a week, and that should help. (If anyone else has this problem, too...) We are just renting, and no water softener (we aren't going to pay for one when it isn't even our house, you know?)... We drink the water from the fridge; which has a filter. I have never had water harder than this. If you put some in a glass and stuck a fork in it, it would stand up straight. (Not really, but...) At least it isn't all rusty, too. We had water like that in Michigan (every time the power went out.) It still wasn't as hard though. I didn't drink the water there, either; without a Brita water pitcher.

I've ordered two retractable tape measures recently. One is for the swap at Crochet Mania that I am in. I can't find any tape measures anywhere here. :( You'd think they would have everything here, but it seems just the opposite. Oh well. I prefer ordering online anyway. Don't have to deal with traffic, long lines, rude people...

Have a great Tuesday everyone. What's left of it. ;)

"L.A." Shrug is Finally Done!

I don't believe it myself, still. This thing has taken me almost two years to finish. (Not that it is the shrugs' fault.... :P It's my fault...) But, it feels good to finish it! I started this back in May of '06; I think. Although now that I think about it, I am almost positive I started it in April. Because this is what I took with me as a project to Michigan. And I got a lot of it done on the way there and on the way back. Anywho.... here it is! (Bad, BAD hair day.... I didn't even do anything with it, I was not feeling good AT all....) :(

I have been working on my Central Park Hoodie. It's ten and a half inches along so far. :D

And..... it didn't last long... Remember how I said 'I want to finish things' before I start anything else? Ha. Well I do recall also saying 'I don't know how long it will last...', too. It didn't last long. :P I have started and finished one of Yarncat's turtles. They are SOOOO cute! Especially the pink ones. I have a second one in the works. (And a third, fourth, fifth six... one in mind...) In fact, I bought some pink camo yarn by Red Heart to make one with. And I have started a scarf for the Scarf Challenge at CFAC. Remember my 'Scarf with no name'? Well I am making a modified version of that, created by Patty (merlot) of Crochetville: Cluster Scarf (I like hers better.) I may or may not make a Tri-Color Cloche to go with this one. I was going to, but I don't know if I'll have enough of the accent (stripe) color I am using. Unless I go buy some more. Not having a label though it will be hard to match it. We'll see.

What else? I'm working on a square for the Square a Month Swap at Crochetmania. I have to send one out (yikes!) by tomorrow. I keep forgetting.... My brain is not working lately. I have been sick. (Again.) My husband got some kind of flu. Probably from work. (And sleeping for only five hours a night and working ten-twelve hour days doesn't help with the immune system, either....) Fortunately mine is stronger than his, and I only got a mild version of what he has. Thank goodness~~ he is barking like a seal. :( Anyway I thought I'd keep you posted.

Knitting Progress.... On Central Park Hoodie...

I got two cables done last night (thanks to insomnia.... sigh... I need AmbienCR-- lol....) I am love, love, loving this sweater!! I hope I am making the right size. I'm making the size for my bust measurement. Well I was reading on the Interweave site about this, and read a couple of comments about 'bust measurement' and 'finished bust measurement'? Well what's the difference? I hope it is the right size, anyway... This will be the first sweater I have ever knitted for myself. :D

Close-up of the cables (blurry....) I was going to finish my LA Shrug first, before I even worked on the Central Park Hoodie at all... But, yesterday I sewed the sleeve on and got to the halfway point (with much sweat and holding my breath lol) and I realized I had sewn it on with the wrong side out!!!! AAAAAAAAAARRRGHHHH!!! So.... I 'un'sewed the whole thing and put it away. That really made me mad. I hope I can sew it on the right way, as good as I did the wrong way.... sheesh... So I worked on the hoodie and a square (which I also had to rip one row out of... yesterday was just not my day to crochet I guess...) :P I am hoping to wear my shrug next weekend, though. So I will definitely finish it soon!

Some of my favorite things....

...or should I say 'my favorite Fo's' of 2007.... I thought I would post some of my favorites that I finished. The shrug I tested for Mimi. :)

Back view. This pattern is available for purchase now, here!

The bolero I tested for Mimi. The bolero pattern is available for purchase, too.

The comfortghan my friend and I made.

This is the edging.

The mock cable slippers I knitted for the slipper swap. I loved these. I should make some of these for my Mom.

I love this apple tea cozy I tested for Lisa, too. The pattern for this apple tea cozy can be purchased at Lisa's Etsy store, A Playfun Yarn 2.

I made a lot of toys this year. One of my favorite things to crochet. I don't know why. But... :P These are some of my favorites. We watched Wallace and Gromit one night. I don't remember if we got the movie at the library or the video rental place... Anyway then I thought 'someone has had to have crocheted a Gromit out there, somewhere.' And went on a quest to find one... Well. As you can see, I found one. :P I love this guy. This is the only one I have made. So far.

Another thing I am proud of is the 'White bunny with the black tail' that I made for our middle son. It's KristieMN's 'Floppy Friends' pattern.

And then, of course, there are my stripey bears I have crocheted this year. I think I have crocheted eight stripey bears this year. Two of them were the peppermint bear; which I love!

Most of the rest of them were like these guys.

While not a stripey bear, I also crocheted one of these bears.

I think I have come a long way in crocheting toys, from the first stripey bear I ever crocheted!! (On the right, in case you couldn't tell....) :P

Another one of my absolute favorite toys I have made, Cupcakes' Sheila the Aussie Troll. I LOVE this one. I sent this to my cousin who was going to Australia; before she left. I think she took her with her. I had to make this for her, since 1. She has had and collected (what used to be called 'wishniks') trolls since I was little. 2. She was going on a trip to Australia. And Cupcake lives there and created this troll... soooo..... it all worked out. :P I should make another one of these for me, too. I made this picture my avatar over at Crochetmania. My husband saw it and said 'Did you make that?' 'Yeaaaah... (you were there when I made it, weren't you?)' :P 'That's cool. You should make another one.'

And, another one of Cupcakes' awesome patterns, the Koala! I made this one for my Grandma. Long story... but it was the same time when my cousin went to Australia.... I made the Koala for my Grandma, too. (My cousin takes care of my Grandma, so I made them both something 'Australia'...) I love this little Koala.

Another toy I made that I loved... Oldbaglady's snow dragon. I made this one for my secret pal, Kelle. I still want to make another one of these, too. Our ten year old (I can only say that for ten more days! :O) was drawing dragons for a long time, and I wanted to make him one of these. (It was a long, confusing time for me... lol.... he wanted a 'red dragon with blue wings' or was it a blue dragon with red wings?.... well, he is 'done' drawing these, and I never got around to making one.... I made him the white bunny with the black tail, though. And, I am currently making him one of yarncats turtles.. more about that in another post.)

Something else I am proud of myself. For actually finishing. Knitted socks. FOR ME!!! This is one thing I am determined (did I spell that right?) to accomplish in knitting~~ Socks, and to be able to just knit them from memory. Someday. This year, hopefully. I bought two skeins of (expensive!) wool to make a pair with. So it will hopefully be soon...

Something else I have knitted last year. While it is nothing *big*, I just love the four corners dishcloth. And the spiral scrubbies, too.

Here is a yellow set. WOW!? Is that the end? (Whew...) :P

Well this year I hope to make more wearables for myself. And not be afraid to do it. (And hope they turn out nice...) Last night I dug out my L.A. Shrug and worked on it for a little while. I guess it isn't called the 'LA Shrug' I must have made that up. It is called the 'Green Shrug'. LA Shrug sounds more exciting, doesn't it? I only have one sleeve left on it. I don't know why I stopped. Second sleeve syndrome, maybe? lol (Kinda like 'second sock syndrome'?) Well stay tuned for some more wearables progress.... Have a nice Monday everyone!

Some Wearables I Would Like to Make...

I'm going to try venturing more into wearables..... Here is one vest I have been wanting to make. I have been wanting to make this Hooded Bone Coat forever, too. Not to mention the Central Park Hoodie which I have already started. Here's a shrug (oops, bolero) I bought the pattern for a long time ago but have never tried.... And I hope to finish my L.A Shrug I started last year. Just some of my hopeful future projects. :)

2007 Crochet Projects Album

Rather than post all of the pictures here (which would take aaaaall day!) I am putting a link in for my 2007 Crochet Projects Album at Picture Trail. :) Turn up the volume to hear 'Frankie and Johnny'. (I had to put that one on there, since that is one of the first songs our 15 year old learned to play on the guitar and piano.)

Central Park Hoodie

I have cast on.... This is how far I've gotten since last night. All the bottom edging, and one row of the chart. :D I was thinking, I have never knit myself a sweater! The Central Park Hoodie is my first one. I hope I don't screw it up. I'm not using expensive yarn, so if I mess up it won't be a huge deal. Then I can buy some *real* yarn to make one with... Stay tuned for more progress! :)

Scrap Baby Ripple Afghan

I finally finished this one. I had to practically force myself (especially when it came to the fringe)... I think next time maybe I will just use a few colors repeated then it won't be so much *thinking*... These are all random scraps. I don't know how long ago I started this. But it's done. Yay!

The other side. This is one of those projects that was starting to feel like it was a member of the family, or something. :P

I am working on a Diego bag for our youngest son. And I got the gauge swatch almost done for the Central Park Hoodie. It looks like it is right on for the gauge. Yay!

I also am in the 'Winter Blues Swap' and the 2008 Square a Month Swap', at CrochetMania. So far I have done two squares. This seems like it will be fun. I just hope none of my packages get lost. I think I am sending them all w/ delivery confirmation.