Stuff to do with wool...

So I found out that I'm not really allergic to wool after all. I must have just reacted to the particular yarn I was working with. The other day I got an idea from a friend to make your own felted dryer balls to use in place of dryer sheets. She got the idea here. Because only animal fibers felt, I had to use wool. I think they turned out pretty well. A couple of them are going as Christmas gifts.

I finished my tote bag, I just have to write up the pattern and send it in. I am now working with another type of wool: Supersock Lace Semi Solids - Mango by Cherry Tree Hill. I'm using it to make a winter hat for my son and I'm also thinking about making him a stuffed animal out of it as well. He loves orange. :)

Free Crochet Pattern of the Day: Apple Blossom Placemat

On the hook: Winter hat

Days til Christmas: 96

“Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”-Joel 2:23

Rededicate

Ok, so I haven't really been dedicated to this blog in the past year or so... but this is an effort to get rededicated.

"Big" News:

• Baby came in January. Bouncing 11lbs 4oz, 22" baby boy named Aiden. He's a cutie, but a handful and the main reason this blog has not been updated in forever.
• I got 2 patterns published in the 2011 Crochet Pattern A Day Calendar. (YAY!) Look for me on March 21 and the September bonus. I'm currently working on finishing my submission for the 2012 calendar. It's due Oct. 15.

I received yarn today for my entry in the Bernat Mystery Afghan Crochet-Along. The colors I chose are:

Contrast A – Fern
Contrast B – Aqua
Contrast C – Teal
Contrast D – Grass
Contrast E – Emerald

The Emerald is a lot more blue than I imagined it would be from the website. I hope it looks ok with my other color selections when the afghan is put together... Aside from any misgivings I have about the colors, I am excited to get the first clue so I can start making the afghan.

I have a few other projects I am working on as well for Christmas (again... 99 days left). I miss the time I used to have when I didn't have a kiddo, but I wouldn't trade him for the world. :)

Free Crochet Pattern of the Day: Soap Sack

On the hook: V-Stitch Tote Bag (personal design)

Days til Christmas: 99

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”- Ephesians 5:1

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*)