Dishcloths

I don't know about you, but I enjoy knitting dishcloths. It is nice to take a break from your longer more complicated projects and get some instant gratification. This was a Christmas present for my grandmother. It is made with Sugar 'n Cream cotton, and I got the pattern from the label. I chose a varigated yarn because I wanted to see how the color would spiral throughout the pattern. I really enjoyed the outcome. Dishcloth Boutique is a wonderful resource for dishcloth patterns. The link is over on the left.

Gotta Love The Library

My husband and I went to the library today. I checked out some pretty great books. I have Vogue Dictionary of Stitches, Knitting On The Road Sock Patterns For The Traveling Knitter, and Knitter's Stash. These are wonderful books. I don't know about you, but I loooooooooooove looking at patterns. I think I could look at the same pattern book hundreds of times and not get bored. I love checking out books at the library, because then I can decide whether I want to spend the money on buying the book or not. For example, I was thinking of buying Stitch and Bitch, so I have it on hold at the library when it gets turned in Feb. 3. I get to try before I buy it. How cool is that. Heehee! I didn't get any actual knitting done today. I also didn't put my camara software back on the computer yet so no project pictures right now. I'm not lazy I swear! Haha! I just have 27 million things going on right now. I'm going to at least try to post every day until the move. Then you will have to forgive my absence for a couple of days. Well, I'm off to flip through my books! Have a great night all.

I'm baaaaaaaaack

It's amazing how much happens in one week. I don't know where to start. Sandy, my mother-in-law, and I went to a local yarn shop, and she bought me some knitting needles and a pattern book. The book is Folk Bags 30 Patterns & Tales From Around The World. This book is awesome! I want to make every single bag in it. Right now I am making both the large and small Oragami bag. The pattern calls for you to knit in the back of each stitch in the row for every other row. I am having a really hard time with this because the stitches are so tight. I do my best to knit as loose as possible, but I am still struggling. Am I doing something wrong?? I wonder if anyone else has this problem.

After we left the yarn shop I couldn't stop thinking about the Brittany Birch needles that they had. I decided to buy an entire set. Unfortunately the store didn't have all the sizes in stock. So far I have sizes 4, 5, 6, 10 3/4, 10 7/8, 11, and 17 in 14" single point. I hope they get more in before I move. I am debating buying the rest online because I am so impatient. Sandy is going to help me make a case for them out of some pretty paisley material that I have. I can't wait until I have the whole set!

I also bought a Bagsmith Project Bag. This thing rocks! I totally love it. It is made with unbleached muslin, and it has a bazillion pockets for all your needles and notions. I couldn't wait to get my stuff in it. I tore it out of the plastic as soon as my mom and I got in the car. I have some of my knitting projects in it right now. I am thinking about buying another one for my crocheting projects.

I have a ton of projects going on. Yay! I made my mom a black eyelash scarf, and I am currently working on the matching hat. As you know Zoe loves eyelash yarn so I decided to make her a small eyelash blanket for her very own. She is going to love it! As you already now I am also working on the Orgami bags, Sunflower Afghan, Striped Scarf (on the waaaaaaaay back burner), and the Warm Up America Squares. I bought the yarn for a beautiful Cabled Sweater that I have a free pattern for, and I also bought some yummy Lana Grossi Tweed Sock yarn. I am going to learn how to knit two socks on two ciculars with this yarn. I am going to post some pictures of this stuff, but for now I have to get back to packing. Happy crafting!!!

PC Trouble

I am having problems with my computer so I will not be posting until it is fixed.

Modeling Debut

Now this is too cute! I figured that since Zoe loves this scarf so much it was only right for her to be the one to model it. I think she could have a real career in this don't you! She was a perfect model and didn't cop a Diva attitude with me once. One take and were were done. I think she has been photographed so much that she knows what to do. Rob says that she always poses every time we take out the camara. When she sees me hold it up she stops what she is doing and looks up at the camara. She's a natural I tell ya!

Another Picture

I crocheted this for my nephew Ben. His mom really likes cows.  I think it turned out really cute. It even has litte udders! Heehee!!

Picture

I just love Tigger don't you? My nephew's nursery had a tigger theme so I crocheted this tigger for him for Christmas. The picture doesn't really do him any justice though. The orange isn't quite so BRIGHT haha as it is in this picture. You just about need sunglasses to look at it. The pattern came from Leisure Arts Pooh & Friends. I have the yarn I need to do Eeyore, Piglet, and Pooh. Can't really say which one I am making next since it is a surprise for next Christmas. I'll probably start working on it early though. The first one I made was Pooh, but I don't have a picture of him. I gave it to my grandmother when she was in the hospital after suffering from two strokes. I'm going to make pooh again for my nephew, so he'll end up with all four characters eventually.

I finished the scarf and when I get Zoe off of it, I will take a picture of it. I think she is going to be sad to see it go. I may just make her an eyelash blanky. I have never seen her take such a fit over anything I've made before. I guess she's just an eyelash yarn kind of girl. Gotta love her! Well, here's some of the scarf anyway! Haha!

Blog Rings

Now that I have everything all seperated, I'm adding myself to some Knitting Blog Rings. I didn't really get any knitting done today. I spent most of the day on the phone and online getting utilities set up at the new place. Plus, Zoe decided to take a nap on my scarf, and I didn't have the heart to move her. Man do cats take long naps! My mom called and told me that my book,"Crazy Toes & Heels", is in. I'm so excited. I can't wait to learn this new method. I think I will buy my self some bamboo circular needles for my birthday. New book, new needles, and hey maybe some new sock yarn. That sounds awesome! I spent last year's birthday money in a LYS so why not make it a tradition. This weekend can't come soon enough! I'm going to start posting some pictures of some of my finished projects. Until then here is a picture of Zoe AKA The Yarn Monster when she was a baby. Isn't she just adorable.

Eyelash Scarf

This is the scarf I am knitting for work. I have really enjoyed working with this yarn. It is soooooo soft. I think the color is beautiful . I had to leave the labels at work because of the UPC codes so I don't know what the colors are. I let you know later. I know that scarves are simple, but this was a great project to demostrate the yarn in a two hour period. I probably could have finished this sooner, but as you can see from my project list I have a few things going on. When this is done it will go up on the wall in the yarn section of our store.

I am still waiting for my book to come. I can't wait to learn 2 Socks on 2 circulars. I'm really excited about that. I have always knitted sockes on circular needles. I am getting a set of Brittany Birch #0 DPN's soon. I am trading the sizes I got for christmas in for some I don't have. I already talked to the shop owner and she said it will be fine. Once I get them I am going to try knitting socks on DPN's. Well, I'm gonna get off of this computer and finish up this scarf. Byeeeee!

Finished

The new blog is done. From this point on this blog will be dedicated soley to knitting and other crafts. It's 430am right now and I am dead tired. I'm going to bed. Nite!

Still Workin

I wish I weren't such a perfectionist. The site would be done by now. OH well, I don't do anything halfway! I haven't even started moving entries yet. All I've been doing is getting the layout everything fixed. This may take a while. I hope that all the work is worth it. It will suck if I did all of this and noone even likes it! That would be just my luck. I know Tanya likes it so far. Rob and I took her out for lunch this afternoon. It was her bday present. I had a great time hangin' out with her as usual. She is such a wonderful friend. She saved Rob's butt yesterday by given him a ride to and from work. Tanya is a very loving and giving person. She will go to the ends of the earth for her friends, and you can always count on her. Her independence and hard work is inspiring! She is a single woman, works full time, goes to school full time, and owns her own home without the help of any man! Did you know that Biance wrote "Indepentdant Woman" just for her! I am very blessed to have her in my life! I'm gonna miss her to pieces!! If you are reading this, Tanya, I love you girl!!

Workin

Busy working on new blog. It should be done soon. I am doing all my own graphics and what not, so it is going to take a little while. I'm havin fun with it. I hope everyone will like it.

This is work??

I got paid to knit today. How awesome is that! I did a knitting demo for the craft store I teach at. I stood at the front of the store and knitted. Is this a dream job or what. Too bad I am leaving it to go to Florida. (I wouldn't change that for the world though. I'm so glad that Rob is going to be accomplishing his dreams.) Today's demo was for Lion Brand Fun Fur which is an eyelash yarn. I used a strand of the eyelash and a strand of woolease together. I casted on 17 stitches and just K1 P1 across for all rows. It is really looking nice. We are going to display the finished scarf by the yarn. So many beginning knitters/crocheters had seen the yarn but didn't know what the finished product looked like. When they saw the scarf they said "Oh I have to get some of that now!" and "Oh wow! I was wondering what that would look like!" Needless to say a lot of eyelash and woolease was sold today. Haha! I had to go to the manager and get in my told ya so's. I had been telling her since I was hired that we should do a knitting demo. I know i have at least two students, and a couple more pending. I was passing out calendars left and right. I'll post pictures of the scarf in progress tomorrow. I'm too tired to mess with it now.

I have begun putting together the other Blog. I can't decide on a name. I'm picky as #$^!, I know. I guess it isn't really a big deal, but I would like a good name. The Blog itself is moving right along and should be ready soon. As long as a figure out a darn name for it. Bye for now

Don't know what I should do

I'm having Blog issues. When I orginally created this blog, I wanted it to be based around the crafts that I do hence the name Faery Crafty. As you all know crafts are a huge part of my life. I enjoy creating, and I especially enjoy knitting. As this blog developed it turned into more of a personal blog than a crafting blog. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I like where the personal aspect of the blog is going. I think it is going to be a great way to bridge the gap between myself, family, and friends when I move.

The problem I have is that my blog doesn't quite fit my original vision. I wanted to enter my blog in knitting and crafting blog rings. To do this I would have to post almost entirely knitting and crafts. The knitters don't really care to read about my crush on Andrew Dan-Jumbo hehe, the great apartment quest, or my general life. My friends and family aren't going to be interested in a blog dedicated fully to my crafts.

So it comes down to this. I think I'm going to split my blog. I'm going to have one blog dedicated to my personal life, and the other is going to be dedicated to my crafts. For those of you that want to read about my crafting adventures I will include a link to my "crafty" blog on my "me" blog. I love the "Faery Crafty" title. It doesn't really fit the "me blog" though. I need to come up with a name for my personal blog now.

This isn't going to happen overnight folks. I have to come up with a good name for the personal blog, move everything from this one to the other, and then start the long process of designing the page. It took me a long time to get this page looking the way it looks now. I will keep everyone posted on what I am doing. Any suggestions are welcome. I need to get off my butt and pack for a while first. Have a great day!

Oh yeah and....

Did you notice the cute balls of yarn I created using Paint Shop Pro? I had no clue what I was doing but I managed to make them look pretty decent. What do you think?

Changes

The only thing certain in life is change. You can quote me on that! I don't know if there is going to be a big party now. The clubhouse is completely booked for the month of January. I'm going to try to find a different place to have the party, but I am not optimistic. Oh well, it's not that big of a deal. We aren't moving on the 7th now either. The apartment complex asked if we could wait until the 13th so that they could make sure the apartment was all ready. That isn't a problem either. My mom is really happy about the few extra days.

On the crafting front, I got paid to play with beads today. How cool is that! I spent about two hours on this bracelate using Stretch Majic elastic. When I got to the end and tried to use a crimping bead it wouldn't hold. The elastic slipped right out. Well the label says easy to knot, so I attempted to knot it. The darn thing snapped and my beads started coming off! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! All that time for nothing. I was nearing the end of my demo time, so I didn't have time to start it over. I decided to make an easy bracelet using Memory Wire and some glass beads. It comes all coiled up like a slinky and bounces right back into place. You don't need any clasps. You just bend one end, put on the beads, and then bed the other end to close it off. If you don't want to bend the ends, you can buy end caps. The project possibilities are endless. You can make rings, chokers, bracelets, etc.

I think I got a few people signed up for my knitting class. I 'm keeping my fingers crossed because I seriously need the money. I push my knitting and crocheting classes on anyone I catch in the yarn isle or anyone that stops to watch my demo. I don't go anywhere in that store without a handful of class calendars on me. I have a knitting demo on Thursday. I am going to knit a scarf using the eyelash yarn. Scarves are good for demos because they knit up fast.

How are my Resolutions going? Resolution number one was to learn a new knitting technique. My mom bought me Crazy Heels and Toes which teaches you how to knit two socks at once. As soon as I get that book I'll be goin to town. The others were exercising regularly, keeping the house clean, and getting organized. I will admit that I'm not doing that well on the exercising. I'll have to work on that more. It is hard to keep the house clean when boxes are everywhere. I have been making sure the bathroom is clean and the dishes are washed, but I can't help clutter while I'm packing. I am getting organized by purging the many unnecessary items in my house. I am not going to pack up junk. Everything I put in a box is scrutinized. Do I really use this? Do I really need to keep this? It has made packing take a little longer but it will be worth it in the end. I am inspired by the TLC show Clean Sweep. I am learning to let go of my packrattyness. Gawd am I always making up words? Anyways, I guess I am pretty much on track with all of my resolutions. I want to try and have a yard sale to make some extra money. That would be very helpful. Well I've rambled on long enough for one entry. Until next time....

A Done Deal

It's pretty much a done deal. We sent in the apartment applicaton along with the deposit today. Everything seems to be moving right on along. So for now it is pack pack pack pack PACK! I have been cleaning and scrubbing and sorting and trashing and packing all week! I don't really see much progress though. I need to hurry up and get my wand out of the shop! This could be done so much faster if I had the darn thing! I never seem to have it when I really need it!

Ok, so I was thinking about my resolutions (namely the first one which is to learn a new knitting technique) and reading posts from one of my yahoo knitting groups , and they were talking about a book called Crazy Toes and Heels. This book teaches you the technique of knitting two, yes two, socks at the same time on two circular needles. It is fully illustrated for people who are visual learners, and I'm seriously considering buying it. I know I said "If we don't need it to survive, we don't need it.", but darn it all to haites I haven't spent a dime of my Christmas money on myself. I think I can splurge on the 24.95...well 28.80 after shipping. I have wanted to learn this method for a while now. When you knit socks you discover a problem we call Second Sock Syndrome. In other words, hey I did this once do I have to do it all again? You end up forgetting what changes you made to the pattern for the first sock or the second sock comes out a completely different size. Ask my husband about SSS. He's been waiting for the mate to a hunter green sock for quite some time. If you knit both of the socks at the same time, then you don't have to worry about SSS. Well that settles it! I have to get the book. After all, it is a cure for a highly irratiting syndrome. Well now I have completely rationalized spending some money on something other than the move. I knew this Blog would be good for sumfin'!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!! Rob had to work today, and I spent the day cleaning. I am worried about the tile in the back room. It has a lot of scratches on it, and I don't think I can fix it. We HAVE to get our deposit back. We need every stinkin' penny we can get our paws on. Just renting a truck and getting from point A to point B is going to cost about $1000!! Our apartment deposit is going to be $500. Then I'm sure there will be deposits for utilities. I have no idea how we are going to afford this. I am freaking out! Yay!! Well I guess it will work out one way or another. I think we should just get rid of about everything we own. Maybe if we have a yard sale we'll make some money. I know one thing for sure we better not spend any more money on extras. If we don't need it to survive, we don't need it. That sucks but I don't think we have a choice in the matter.
So has anyone thought of their Resolutions??? I have been thinking about mine. I may even add to it later, but for now I have about four. I might add more later. I at least know that I will keep the first resolution. That one won't be a problem at all. I kept all of my resolutions last year. Rob's resolution is to lose weight. He wants to lose about ten pounds. We are going to be working out together. I hope we can get motivated. Getting started is the hardest part. If we can make ourselves stick to a schedule for a month it will be smooth sailing after that. I think we will make good use of the tennis and racquetball courts. Well back to cleaning for me. I have way too much to do and way too little time to do it.

Here are my resolutions in order of the ones I'm most likey to keep to least likely. I hope I keep them all!

1. Learn a new knitting technique.
2. Exercise on a regular basis.
3. Keep a cleaner house.
4. Get my life more organized.