Baby Parker Blanket

My neighbor is having a baby boy later in May :) so I started an afghan for them using Hobby Lobby's Baby Bee yarn in Baby's Blue, Naked and Chocolate. I wanted to use a soft acrylic so the blankie could be tossed into the wash and not worried about. Go ahead and spit up on it...then toss it in to wash!

I got a late start. The baby shower was yesterday and I only had 21 inches crocheted on the blue part. I want to have about 36 inches before I start the border. I did a quick corner to show how it will finish out before I wrapped it for the shower. I'm loving the color combo! AND it goes great with his room. YAY!!

I felt terrible taking it back after the shower but she loved it!

The blue section is just a granny square bordered in off white single crochets. The brown edging is #212 from The Complete Crochet Border Designs by Linda Schapper.

I've got a month to get this thing done...gotta get off the computer and get to work (after I rip out the corner work).

Awesome Friends!

Over four years ago, I was stumble into a knitting forum and things haven't been the same sense :)

We've bonded over common hobbies and ideals and values. We've become forever friends. We're BunkerBabes.

This week I had a wonderful surprise from one of the very talented BunkerBabes...just because. :) 

A sock monkey tape measure!!!!!!!

O.M.G.  I LOVE IT!!!! It is so me cuz I am "the monkey".

It's a perfect gift from a perfect friend. Thank you!!!!!
Every time I use it, I will always think of you.

Time to Knit Again...Maybe

I need to confess something. Something I'm not really proud of. I have an addiction. Yes. Me. I have an addiction that I can't quit. It's so bad that I think the thing I'm addicted to will be a permanent attachment soon if I don't make some changes quick.

Maybe if I hurry up and admit it I can work out a compromise because I just can't quit it. I'm addicted to my Nook.

Last June I bought  myself  (and my son and mother) a Nook. I was thinking it was just a small e-tablet I could surf the net with and MAYBE...MAYBE read a book every now and then. See, I've never been much of a reader. Whenever I read a book with real pages, I fall asleep. Even magazines. I fall asleep. When my son was a child and I would read him a story, I would wake up with a sharp little elbow jabbing my ribs and a sweet voice that was suppose to be asleep "Mommy! You fell asleep again! Finish the story!!" see. reading and me never mixed.

NOW!!! I can read a book on my Nook and NOT fall asleep!!! Not sure why but who cares! BUT I'm reading non-stop. Book after book. Day in and day out. When I finish one book...I start another. I keep my queue full because I've got to have something when I finish.

BUT there's an unwelcome side effect (or two) from reading so much. I'm not getting any knitting or crocheting done. Haven't even been interested in doing any. O.M.G!!! Did I just say that?!? And, I've had to get a pair of glasses just for computer use. Hmmmmm...

Wish there was a way I could knit and read at the same time but I'm just not that talented or coordinated.

Then last Friday, I was lucky enough to get to order some Wollmeise in some FABULOUS colors. I think my creative juices might be reigniting. I was able to procure some Lila Lundmilla and Neptune Lite from The Loopy Ewe. Then Sundara Yarn had a close-out and I snatched some Water Studies 117. 

 
I LOVE THE COLORS!!! I must do something with them. Maybe some fingerless mitts or a lacy scarf? I don't know. I'd love to do some fair isle socks but I want to see the color and it would be hidden on my feet. 

I've got some more Wollmeise in my stash but I can't decide what to make with it. I want something special.

Any suggestions?? Something to drag me out of this addiction. 

New Books... and Ideas

Hooray for the mailman!! He brought me new knitting and crocheting books this weekend. I had a nice heavy box waiting for me on my desk this morning with four new books. Just after a quick thumb through, ideas are racing through my head. AAAAHHHH!!! There is not enough time in the day to do it all!! :)

First, I got Pop Knitting by Britt-Marie Christoffersson. O.M.G. I'm loving this!!! Great pictures. Great instructions. Simple layout. BUT. BUT!! OH THE IDEAS!! She's got some really cool, edgy stuff. I'm loving the slip stitch and stockinette patterns and the holey knitting. I can't wait to try this. Must hurry to get other projects finished so I can start some new things from this wonderful idea book!

  

Second is The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert. If you don't know by now ... I LOVE GRANNY SQUARES!!! There's 75 granny square patterns plus some projects. What I love about this book besides the fabulous patterns that will make fantastic things is the book construction. Why can't all knitting/crocheting pattern books be like this? It's a hard back book with an interior spiral spine so it opens easily when working on a pattern. There are some great floral granny squares that will definitely be used toward another one of my way-cool Boho Scarves.


The other two books I got are 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet (Lesley Stanfield) and The Complete Book of Crochet Border Designs (Linda P Schapper). I haven't had a chance to thumb through them yet but the appear to be great resources with awesome pictures and instructions. I've got to have good pictures and easy instructions and these two books look like they have it. The flowers are sooooo cute! They'll be great embellishments. There are even leaves and acorns and radishes AND ASPARAGUS! besides morning glories and peonies and lavendar and roses and...and... and... Do you get the picture? :) And in the crochet borders...there must be 300 classic border motifs! HOG HEAVEN!!!

Do I have to work now? Can't I just curl up in the supply closet or empty office somewhere and look at my new books and try things out? I want to make granny squares! I want to make flowers! I want to do some pop knitting!!  

I want! I want! I want!!!!

::pout::

Yarn Nightmares

Every knitter has a stash. Usually an incredible stash of magnificent proportion. We never buy just ONE skein of yarn...we always get 2-3 skeins of that color just in case we want to knit an octopus a sweater. You never know what you will need! It's always better to err on the side of caution and get extra skeins.

Well today, it happened. With ALL my tubs of squishy goodness I call my stash and all my "hidden" stashes in baskets and drawers and suitcases and bookcase shelves and in/out trays on my desk, I ran out of yarn for a project. Yes, the unthinkable happened. Go ahead, pick your jaw up off the keyboard. It's going to be okay... I think... I hope... I pray.

See, I'm trying to finish up a baby granny afghan I started back in March. It was going to be for a worker in the deli at the office but then she left and we've lost touch. But then my new neighbors across the street are preggers so I thought... PERFECT! I've got plenty of time to finish it. Guess what. She had a bouncing little boy this weekend. UH OH!!! Baby blanket had been put on the back burner and I only had 30 squares completed out of the required 81. ARGH!!!!!

Time to reassess.

Using 81 squares is going to make this blankie about 55 inches square (9x9 with 4-inch border.) That's big. SOOOOOOOO now I think I'm going to make it an 8x8 with a 3-4 inch border requiring only 64 squares. That's do-able because I've already got 30 squares done AND another 30 center squares done. There is hope. Finished size will be about 36 inches square plus the border. Plenty big.

I was cruising right along this evening adding the white around all the color squares. Got 14 blue and yellow squares finished. YAY!!! I could have this done by next weekend. Moved on to the green squares but when I got to the 13th square, I noticed that my white yarn was disappearing. O.O  NO!!!! Very carefully, I started the 14th square watching the end of the yarn quickly approaching my hook as I crocheted around the square. Will I have enough? Can I make it to the end of this row? Those are questions that always haunt knitters and crocheters. I MADE IT! I got the 14th green square done...BUT ...BUT ...shit. shit. shit. dammit. I still have pink and purple squares to add white rows to. I looked in my project bag. (Yes, I have a bag for every project. I'm anal that way.) There was no more white yarn anywhere. Not even in all the tubs and scattered stash. dammit!!!! 

Guess you know what that means now. Means I have to go buy more yarn. shit. What a torturous thing to do...to go buy more yarn. The horror! The atrocity! The unthinkable agony! damn.

Needless to say, progress has come to a screeching halt. I can't even sew squares together cuz I ain't got any off-white worsted weight yarn. ::pout::

I laid out the squares I have so far to see how it looks and measure. It got JackCat's approval. Thank goodness! I'd hate for him to disapprove. It's not a pretty sight. I'm anxious to get it all seamed together and get the border on it. I think it's going to be really cute.

Hope there's a yarn shop open tomorrow!!!

Lost Mojo

I am such a slacker lately. I think my knitting mojo is sinking. Not sure what is up with that. I have been crocheting. It just seems nothing is exciting me right now. I know! That's sacrilege!!! A yarnie with no mojo.

My hooks have been busy making and designing bags. AND I've been making Queen Anne lace pieces for my mom. It's just that none of this sparks my drive. ugh.

There are lots of UFOs in my bags...a baby afghan, 2 sweaters, 3 bags, and LOTS of ideas of things I want to make. I would really like to enter in the county fair this year but I just don't know what. ugh.

blah.

Any help is appreciated.

FO: Spring Fling Bag

I LOVE THIS PATTERN! I have made TWO of these bags this week!!

First, it was my Infrared Flower Burst. NOW...it's a Spring Fling!

This time I used some Sugar'n Cream Hot Blue, Hot Green and Sugar'n Cream Twists Mod (I think this color is discontinued now.) I like using the worsted weight cotton for these.

It's a great cotton stash buster to make instead of washcloths. PLUS...the color combinations are just infinite! I'm looking at what all I have in my stash and how I can mix it up.The original pattern has it as all one color. BOOOOOOOOOOOORING!!!


One thing I did after the fact was cut a piece of plastic to the size of the bottom as an after-the-fact stiffener for the bottom of the purse. Next time, I'll make a more traditional stiff bottom.

I wonder what color combo will be next. :D

Wonder if I could sell these? Hmmmmmm.... How much could I sell them for?