Getting there...

Still working away on the afghan. I've gotten it a little over halfway done. I might be able to finish it before the end of the week if I am diligent. Then, all I will have to finish is the other one and I should be all set for Christmas. Yay! That will allow me to work on some of the other projects I have still to do for the nursery, like making a seat cover for my rocking chair.

Free Crochet Pattern of the Day: Amigurumi Chick

On the Hook: Four Seasons Afghan

Days til Christmas: 45 days

Eee!

Ok... I know I JUST updated, but I found this really nifty project that I just had to share.

Isn't he nifty? I'm know... I'm a geek... But I couldn't help but be excited over this. It's amazing what you can do with crochet. :) I'd never thought of using granny squares as pixels, but now that I have, the possibilities are endless! Ok... that's probably enough nerdiness, I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled day. :D

Bees, etc...

I found a really cute pattern today that I wanted to share:

Fuzzy Little Friends

In other news, I've finished the dad socks. Hopefully they will fit him. I found the measurements for him shoe size online and crocheted the sock accordingly, so theoretically they SHOULD fit. Let's just keep our fingers crossed so that I don't have to do too much adjusting when he gets them.

I used this pattern for the socks, which I think I like better than previous ones that I have done. I like the heel as you go thing rather than using an afterthought heel. It makes it a little easier to adjust later on should it be needed. It also seems to make the shape a little nicer too. Once I'm done with Christmas presents, I think I'm going to work on me a pair of socks with what I've learned from the pattern, only jazz it up a little with a couple different stitches.

On the hook: Four Seasons Afghan from Herrschners.

Countdown til Christmas: 58 days.

Dusting off the blog...

Ok, so I haven't posted in a while. That isn't to say that I haven't been busy crocheting. In fact, I continue to be busy with the hook. I recently submitted a pattern to the Crochet Pattern A Day calendar and am hoping to be accepted. I have a few other designs that need a little tidying up that I hope to get published in the near future. I do have some ideas that I've been working with and that I think are worth sharing. I think it's time to see if other people think they are good as well. :)

In other news, I am currently working on Christmas presents, yet again. I'm going to be a little more ambitious this year and am working on a couple of afghans. We have 70 days til Christmas. Let's see if I can get these projects done before then. To add to the excitement, I'm expecting a baby in January. This could actually give me a little more time to work on projects since I'm started to not be able to do much else than sit.

Currently on the hook: Socks for Dad using an altered version of this pattern.

Countdown to Christmas: 70

Socks and more socks.

It's been a few days since I have updated. I've been crocheting constantly (which is kind silly because I'm supposed to be working on final projects for school, lol). But anyway, I just finished a pair of socks for my mother-in-law. The pattern is my own design loosely modeled from this pattern, which is an excellent pattern, but I don't enjoy knitting very well. So, I kind of took the basic idea and designed my own pattern. They look pretty cute, but I think I'm going to play with the pattern a bit so that it won't look quite so bulky. That's one of the downsides about crocheting socks, they tend to be a little bulky looking (and feeling). All in all though, I think the design worked pretty well. I used Paton's Grace in "Blush" for the socks and enjoyed the yarn a lot. I absolutely love cotton and cotton blends. Which is good, because I found out today...

I think I have discovered that I am allergic to wool. I'd never used wool before until today. I'd recently bought a bunch of different yarns to try and see what I thought of them. I'm not generally a big fan of wool anyway because it is so itchy, but I found out today that I have another reason not to like it. Among the yarn I purchased was a couple skeins of Cervina Calzetteria in the color Capri. It's 70% wool and 30% nylon. Itchy, but so pretty. I love the colors. Looking through my new copy of Crochet Today magazine, I found a really nifty sock pattern that I wanted to try(which I will talk about in a minute) and thought "This yarn would be excellent for this project." And it is; what I have so far is gorgeous...BUT I'm having adverse effects due to the wool. My hands were getting tingly and itchy, but I thought that could just be due to the itchiness of the wool, until I rubbed my eye...which is now red, itchy, and uncomfortable. Poo. So, I'm going to have to find another yarn for this project, which makes me sad because I really love the colors in this yarn and it's really nice to work with.

So about the pattern. The pattern is called "Step-by-Step Socks" and the designer is Amy O'Neill Houck and can be found in the Sept/Oct issue of Crochet Today. I love the pattern. It's very pretty, really simple and doesn't look bulky at all. I think I'm going to make a few pairs of these for the females on my Christmas list (including me...haha). I'm actually considering reworking my pink ribbon sock pattern to incorporate some of the things I am discovering through this pattern.

Well, that about brings you up to speed. Talk to you later!

On the hook: "Step-by-Step Socks" (that I have to find new yarn for *sad face*)

Busy, busy

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts this morning and I decided that I just had to mention it in a blog post. If you don't already listen, you should check out YarnThing hosted by Marly. Marly seems like an awesome lady. She fun, quirky and has awesome tips and ideas asll well as gives you an introduction to some of the coolest designers out there. Listening to her show always bring a smile to my face and inspires me to keep on stitching. :D In fact, listening to her show has inspired me to start trying to get my own designs published. Anyway, enough gushing...on that anyway...

Wednesday night I just picked up a new book called The Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting. I LOVE it and just had to share it with you. It is a great beginner's book because it goes over all the basics. It is also a great book for more advanced crocheters like me to help give ideas for different stitches or to give a refresher on certain skills that you might not use on a daily basis. I've been reading it straight through and am coming up with a plethora of design ideas just by reading through it. I really enjoy it and think you should check it out now...like right now.


I've just finished a couple more of my personal little projects. One of them was a paperback tote from a pattern that you can find here. I really enjoyed working on it and will borrow from the experience for another design that I am working on myself and will probably discuss at a later date. One thing I learned from this project that most crocheters/knitters will say "Well, duh!" to is that checking and double-checking gauge is a must! I haven't done this much in the past because gauge hasn't been a problem for me in the past. This time, though, I was using a new yarn that the pattern did not call for and it works up a little larger than regular worsted. So I wound up having to rip out a lot of work because of my silliness. I'll know for next time though. If I am going to be a proper designer, I need to take careful steps so that I will be saved a lot of extra work and heartache. Oh, btw, like my paper clip stitch markers? haha I love to improvise and they were the only thing I had handy at my office. They work really well actually. They stay put and are easy to remove. I'm actually thinking on using them again. I really liked the yarn I used. It's Lion Brand Chenille Prints in the color Paris. It's lots prettier than the picture really shows and is really soft. It would make a really nice, warm sweater.

Oh, I finished the scarf design I was working on. I think it turned out nicely and the Lion Brand Color Waves in Sunset Red was an awesome choice for it(haha I sound like I am doing a commercial for Lion Brand. That's twice I've mentioned their yarn. I really do like other yarns...honest). It's really pretty. Now I just need some testers for the pattern before I try to sell it anywhere. I will probably get on the forums at Ravelry and see if anyone is interested.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. I'm so psyched about finding Ravelry and getting connected with all these nifty designers and other crafters. I've got a TON of ideas floating around. I think my head will explode soon if I don't get some of these out onto paper and into yarn. Until next time, back to the hooks!

On the Hook: Going to try to figure out how to convert a knit pattern into a crochet pattern for a pair of socks for my mother-in-law...but shhh....it's a secret.

Lion Brand Crochet Along - Part 3: Finished!

So I finally finished my afghan...

I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. It's nice and warm and will be a nice addition to my future nursery. I had a lot of fun doing this project and it was neat connecting with other crocheters and seeing their progress. This was my first CAL and I really enjoyed it. I specifically liked the interaction with the other crocheters. This project also helped me to get into the world of crochet, because I am now on ravelry and etsy and am learning more about the crochet world every day.

I think the pattern is worth doing again, however I will definitely add different blocks next time. I'm actually tossing around ideas in my head for my own sampler afghan and the ideas that others gave for this project will help me develop that design. I'm excited about crochet again and I'm going to try my hand as a designer. I'm hoping that I can be successful with the ideas I have. Later on, I'll post some more about some of the designs that I am working with.

On the Hooks: New scarf design I am working out with Lion Brand Color Waves.