Lamb Sweater Progress....

I finished the front!! I am a LOT more pleased with how this looks. I can tell it is pulling in a little on the right. But I think it looks kinda cute, like it is supposed to look like that, maybe? (I am talking about the lamb, by the lamb's head...) I have to give it eyes and ears still. But I wanted to post what I have so far.

And the back. Which has been done forever. But I took another picture so I didn't have to search for it in my photobucket album... These will have to be blocked. I have never blocked anything other than a doily. I will have to see if there is any special thing(s) I am supposed to do...

I have also cast on for one sleeve. I wanted to do both together to save time. But. I only have one ball each of the blue and green. And I figured by the time I split them both up and all it would probably take as much time as just doing them separate.... :P One of my old clients (aka~ someone I used to clean house for :P) told me how to do both sleeves on one needle. I remember looking at her like, 'What are you talking about?' I seriously did not get what she was saying. But after she explained, 'you cast on separately, but on the same needle' I was like, 'Cool!!!!' Hee hee. I was really new in knitting then, so don't be too hard on me... ;) (She probably thought I was a total wacko....) :P (Actually, she was a really nice lady-- kind of like a Grandmother to me.)

Anyway~~ This and my CPH are the only things I am 'allowing' myself to work on. I think I will be finishing this first, as I want to give it to my sister when I go to Michigan and that is coming up soon, here. Have a GREAT DAY, everyone! :)

An Old WIP Made New Again...

Remember this sweater? I must have really been digusted. I haven't worked on it for three years! I have thought about just throwing it away at times. (In one post I said I wanted to take my scissors to it!) But I didn't. It has just been sitting there, collecting dust. (Well, the bag it was in was collecting dust...) I don't know why, but last night I was looking through all my FCEK magazines. I started out looking for scrap yarn knitting projects. (I was being bad, because I probably would have started a new project if I found something I liked!) Well then I started looking for baby sweaters to make for my nephew to be. I remembered the little fishy sweater I made our son before he was born. (I never took a picture of it, it was pre-internet, pre-digital camera, and pre-blog days...) Well actually I did take a picture of it. I suppose I could get it put onto a disk someday.... Then I saw a tractor sweater I could make. Then I *remembered* the sweater I practically have half way done, but stopped because it was so frustrating. Well I dug it out and sat there and ripped out row after row. I tried looking for a fluffy white yarn I could substitute from my stash. (I didn't find anything...) Then I decided to just double the yarn I have been using. This is the result. I think it looks a lot better. It is a *little* bit pulling in on the right side, but I am okay with it. It is a LOT better than the way it was. I hope the rest will turn out okay. This is not the best picture; but you can still kind of tell, no? And, I didn't *technically* cheat on my WIP pile thing I have been trying to get a handle on. This IS an old WIP, in fact, one of THE oldest. So no guilt there. Yay! I guess it definitely won't fit our youngest son (since he is in a 5/6 now!!) But it will definitely fit my nephew, who is not even born yet. :P (That is, if I finish it... which, I definitely think I will, now that I am doing it a lot better...)

I have been working on another WIP, too. The Central Park Hoodie. I finished the left front!! Yay!! I typed in Central Park Hoodie at Ravelry and :0!!! There was over a thousand of them. (That motivated me to get mine out and work on it...)

Sorry about the bad picture. I am not in the mood to fix it though.... (sorry.) I just need a better camera.

And, I.... started the right front!:

If I keep on working on it it will be done soon. I hope it will fit. I have been reading through the posts at Ravelry, and noticed that a few people have said this pattern runs small. And, I am making the size that will just fit me. So.... we will see.

I have also been on a quest to find the knitted version of the Baby Hexagon sweater. Well... (I should have known!) Elizabeth Zimmerman created the Baby Surprise Sweater in 1968. Someone posted about it in my thread at Crochetville. I asked her for more information and she posted this!! I thought at first that it was the pattern for it, but it's not... But, if you go all the way to the end of the page, it does tell you where to find the pattern. That sent me on another quest to find it. I went to ebay and found one of the Knitter's magazines it is in. And a few of the books, but there was already bidding on them.... Soooo.... I bought a 'Buy It Now' one. (The Opinionated Knitter.) I thought I would rather have the book than just a magazine... Well I also found a link (on Ravelry) where you can buy just the sweater pattern from Schoolhouse Press. (Which, I did. But, I still wanted the book, too.) The Baby Surprise Sweater (on that page I linked to) is 1B. It came in the mail today. (I SO badly want to start one, but... I am being good.) Really, I actually don't want to start one right now. I am getting too much things going on, and it's really starting to get to me. So I want to finish them, first. One thing I noticed was, I paid $2.50 for shipping, and on the envelope it said $0.42? What's up with that? It was just like two pieces of paper. If I was to mail that myself, it would only cost one stamp. Hmmmm. Oh well. Anyway, back to the Crochetville thread.... Someone else also posted (in a different thread, that I found-- I don't know how...) a similar knitted sweater (not exactly the same, but somewhat similar) pattern online, too. Well stay tuned for some FO's soon, hopefully!

Another Hexagon Baby Sweater

And another WIP to cross off my list. (I decided to not do the booties for either set...) It will make my stress load a lot lighter as far as that goes.... This one, I *think* I did in an F hook and fingering weight yarn. I wrote it down somewhere (sigh)... Anyway it is a true newborn size. I don't think it would have fit any of *my* newborns, as big as they were... But. The hat is the trusty old FCEC magazine (Fall 2006) hat I have done with a lot of sweaters. I am going to save this set for my sister and her husband since they're having a boy. Hopefully it isn't as big as mine were! (I got my big baby gene from my paternal grandmother..... and, we have different dads...)

"Spots"~ The Spotted Puppy :P

Well I was doing okay, trying to get caught up on all my WIPs (they are getting out of control, even for me...) Then I saw Alisha's Fen the Spotted Puppy. Our youngest son has been wanting me to make him a dog ( 'A pink Schnauzer' even though when he says it, it sounds more like 'A pink Shawzer'...) :P Well I saw Alisha's puppy (even I thought it was cute!), and showed it to him. He said (and I knew he would) 'Can you make me one of those!?' ('Just like that one?') So I asked to be a tester and Alisha said yes.... Well. You can see the rest. ;) I think I am done making him toys. (THAT is getting out of hand, too... I should line up all the toys I have crocheted just for him, and take a picture....)

Anyway. I wanted to list my WIP "pile" (even though they are not all laying in a pile... :P) So I can try to work on it.... (sigh....) Not in any particular order:

~Central Park Hoodie
~Chevron Granny Sweater
~Navajo Afghan
~Granny scrapghan
~ Bunny scarf, hat, mitten set
~booties for Hexagon Granny Sweater (yellow one)
~hat and booties for Hexagon Granny Sweater (white and blue one, which I haven't posted about yet...)
~ Kewpie doll dress Tampa Doll sent me pattern for
~Diego Bag
~knitted hat and I-cord for booties for knitted sweater set
~Bear ghan cuddle thingy (from Crochet World)

Well that is all I have written down. I'm sure there are probably more I have forgotten about or that are never going to be finished (like my BMC doily....) And things I should make but haven't even started (because I know they will be WIPs forever and don't even want to start them!) Sigh (again)..... Well at least I have them all written down and that's a 'start', eh? :P Have a Great Day everyone and thanks for stopping by. :)

Here It Is With a Hat...

The hat I used is the Granny Skull Cap. I used a G hook and the same baby yarn. I hope it will fit. The hat barely measured to 7 inches wide, the sweater measured to about a 24 month wide (!!!) and only 6 month sleeves? So, I pulled it in a little with buttons and snaps to be a little more narrow. Anyway thought I'd post the whole set... :P

Hexagon Baby Sweater

I finished one today. After the harrowing trip to the dentist I just kind of vegged out today. I saw one of these on someone's blog, then saw another one someone else had done on Crochetville, who posted the link where she found it on You Tube. (It is in Portugese.) So you see how hard it was to "get" this pattern. :P The visual was very good though. And it helped that she counted the stitches (I don't know Portuges or Spanish, but I know how to count to ten in Spanish~thank you Sesame Street!) So after watching and listening and rewinding the videos, I got the basic gist of it. I wrote it up on my pattern blog. (Even though it isn't MY pattern, just for somewhere to put it...) I want to make up a little hat and some booties if I can find some. I think this is approximately a 6-9 months size. The sleeves are more six month but the chest measurement was a 24 month. So I pulled the front edge over a bit with snaps (I hadn't sewn them on yet when I took this picture.). Anyway. I will definitely be making more of these, it was so fun. Isn't it neat how crochet is universal? It doesn't matter what language you speak.

If Four Wasn't Bad Enough, Now There Are Three More!!

Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Can I complain some more? I am so utterly, completely, totally disgusted!! I'm so mad. I don't know at WHO. I certainly have taken care of my teeth. It's not as if I never even brush. Or brush for two seconds. I don't know why my teeth are so bad. I just want to cry. I went in today to have four cavities taken care of. Two of which are still not completely done. And it was NOT fun!!! It was, in fact, painful. I want to go to my old dentist in Michigan. Pain free. And it wasn't as expensive as this dentist!! So much for having insurance, our insurance isn't even covering anything. I am just disgusted with the whole thing. How expensive can teeth be? Well my bill is over $3,000. It's a bleeping crime. Well after my four cavities were done, she took some more x-rays and pictures and~~~ YAY!!!~~ found THREE MORE cavities!!! If you hear someone screaming, it might be me..... :(

Plum Trees

Remember this post? Well those flowering trees are plum trees!! My husband and I were walking one day (a while ago), and I saw some small fruity looking things on the sidewalk. I said 'huh?'. We kept walking and I noticed something hanging from the trees. Plums! I picked one and ate it. It wasn't quite ripe yet and was very small, but how cool!! Some kids (I'm assuming) threw some at our house when we were gone one weekend. My husband said they were probably throwing them at everyone's house. Grrrr. That makes me mad. Someday those plums may be all they have to eat. I want to go pick some. But I don't want to look like the crazy lady in the neighborhood picking plums off the trees by the sidewalk... :P I found a plum torte recipe that looks like it would be yummy with ice cream.

It's A....

My baby sister is having a baby this year. They just found out 'It's a Boy!' :P I am so happy for her/them. (I would be just as happy if it was a girl, but....) I happen to be a little partial to boys. :P (Being surrounded by them, I guess I have been assimilated.... resistance was futile...) ha ha. Well, this makes it easier for me to decide what to make them. I already have one baby boy sweater and sockies done. I just have to finish a cap. I was waiting to see what 'it' was, first.... And, I want to make a Noah's Ark baby afghan like Janet made. And the one benthyreeders made and just posted today-- cute!! I have looked high and low for the May '08 Crochet! magazine, I have not been able to find it anywhere. I subscribed to the magazine, though.... Maybe my first issue will be that one? At least I will probably be able to ge a back issue... I should look into that today. Well have a nice day everyone.

Growing Your Own Tea Leaves

This is one of those things I wonder about. I don't have much space here to grow anything. But I am still interested in it. I googled (don't you love the internet?) and found a few pages that are interesting. This site has all different kinds of tea plant/leaves. This one is for 'regular' tea. Did you knowyou can make oolong, green or black tea all from the same leaf? This page tells how. (I believe you can get to that page from the first page, but.... I am still not fully awake, so...)

I took all the kids to the dentist (and the 'big kid' went, too.) ;) I was so happy (and amazed) that NO ONE had any cavities!! Well, then I went.... (Insert fuming mad, growling, barking smiley here).... :( I can't believe it. I had FOUR cavities!! ?????????? Why? I am the one who flosses all the time, brushes my teeth three or four times a day. Takes vitamins, tries to eat fruits and vegetables and drink herbal or green tea. Why me? :((( It makes me so mad. Now I have to get them taken care of. I hope it isn't medieval dentistry like one dentist office I went to. Ugh. or.... should I say..... aaargh....

I'm still crocheting. I had been knitting some dishcloths. Mostly the 'idiot's dishcloth'. One four corners, too. I got super bored with everything and started something new. I'm bad. I haven't made a bed doll dress in years!! I was RAOK'd some really cute 'air freshener doll' bed doll dress patterns by a wonderful Crochetviller. I finally am getting around to making one. I had bought a Kewpie doll at Hobby Lobby and wondered if there were any dress/clothing patterns for them. I posted about it at Crochetville. And this doll herself sent me some!! I wasn't sure where my Kewpie doll was. I only had to look in one place, where I thought it might be. And it was. :P (Thank goodness.) I also found two little $1 dolls for cradle purses. Last night I spent way too much time online looking for cradle purse patterns. I had one that another C'viller had made up, but it is on my other computer which is fried. :( Anyway, I do have a couple patterns for that. (I haven't started any, I want to finish this dress first.) Back to the bed dolls, someone at Crochetville had made a 'cool whip' bed doll. Kinda neat. I had never heard of anything like that. I guess her Grandma used to make them for her. She could put her pajamas in the container. With everyone so into recycling now and being green, that is a pretty good idea. :P

Anyway that is what I have been up to. The kids have a well-child visit today at their new pediatrician. They haven't been since we lived in Michigan. :( I am not happy about that, but.... what can you do? No money and no insurance makes for no doctor visits unless there is an emergency. So now they have been to the dentist and after today, the doctor. I will feel relieved as far as that goes. Now it will be my turn. Hopefully no more bad news!! :(

Well I wanted to go to the post office (not really) today so I better get a move on here. I hope everyone is having a good week. :)