YoP Round 2 Update: 9/11/12

So I decided to join in the 1 Million Rows Challenge (thanks to whoever blogged about it recently, speak up if you did because I'm drawing a blank!).

The way I see it, I'm using stash yarn for my Year of Projects list and that's one of the premises in the challenge so why not kill two birds with one stone! I'm also curious as to how long it will actually take me to do 1 million. This is my counter:




Don't worry, it won't say ZERO for long, I just created it 5 minutes ago!

I figure we leave for vacation soon and that'll be 14 hours in the car up and then another 14 when we come back plus a side trip day that will be 4 hours so with 30+hours in the car I'm curious as to what I can get done!

I did decide to add to my list since my amigurumi portion of my list is going to be complete very, very shortly!

I added a home category:

I bought some Dishie from KnitPicks and had every intention of making washcloths to keep in the kitchen for my toddler daughter to use. That was a couple months ago so they're being added to the list for motivation!

Also going to work up some new placemats, throw pillows and a few motifs that I'd like to work up, block, stiffen and just frame individually for wall art :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures, it's been a crazy week! I did get started on the two cowls off my list that will be traveling with me!

YoP Round 2: 8/12/12 Update

So now that the Ravellenics are coming to a close (Yes, that's why I was quiet last week), I've got some FO's relating to my YoP page to show off! My Paintbox Frog was put on hold over the games so I'll be back to him shortly but until then, enjoy these!

My Ruffles & Buttons Cowl, designed by Lisa Gentry

M. Richard the Whale, designed by Stacey Trock, available free here

Frankie the Lobster, designed by Stacey Trock
This pattern was available FREE in the amigurumi calendar on crochetme.com from Aug 1-7. I was waiting and waiting and waiting for what seemed like forever and snatched it up as soon as it was available! You can still grab the remaining patterns during the first week of each month but you can also buy the calendar if you missed the previous ones.

Finally, my most prized amigurumi so far on my list:

Petey the Pufferfish, designed by ME!! That's right, I cracked and started dipping into designing :)
He's too cute to leave my house though so this one won't be sold or gifted. Kind of like people who frame their first dollar they make when they start a business? He's the first of his kind in my designer world!

YoP Rnd 2: Week 3 Update!

So this week for my YoP update I have another FO and a WiP! :)

I finished up my first dragon from the Choose Your Own Dragon Adventure. There is still a debate in my house as to what kind, if any, horns he may or may not be getting at some point but here he is!

Showing off her wings, ears and arrow tail

I'm just now realizing that both of those pictures have a convenient baby sized finger print on the lens in the same spot...argh! Will have to give the lens a good cleaning!

As for my WiP this week, I started the Paintbox Frog from Classic Elite's Quick Knits book. The frog is originally done in seed stitch but a) I have a bad attention span with turning seed stitch into accidental ribbing (especially with increases and decreases involved) and b) I'm not really all that much of a fan of seed stitch's look so I just went with regular stockinette stitch on it.

Obviously nothing has been blocked so hopefully you weren't looking for a "pretty" picture on this one!

So yes my friends, if you can believe it, that pile will become a cute, cuddly frog shortly. I promise!

One A Day Tallies #6

Yes, yes it's been a month since I posted a One A Day...yikes! Some of you may remember I was awaiting a good time to purchase more yarn from Herrschners for my ripple blanket and the good news is....I did! It's since arrived and I'm back to being able to work on my ripple blanket!

In place of working on the blanket I worked on a different One A Day project: A Hexagon Bag. That was a very quick lived project start to finish and it made for a perfect space filler while I awaited more ripple blanket yarn.

Here's the finished product!

You can be assured next week will contain a ripple update that I'm so so excited about working on again!

FO Friday #13

FO Picture time! But I won't be modeling the FO's today. I'm quite comfy in my grey fleece PJ pants and my "We all can't be morning people" t-shirt and I don't wish to publicize that look :-P.

This is my pink Lyla cowl. It's all puff stitch, works up insanely clip and it actually buttons closed but I haven't found JUST the right buttons yet so I didn't share the temporary ones holding it closed right now. I used Bernat Waverly which I never intended to buy any of but after that weird find of it on clearance, I picked up a few. It's so nice and squishy!

This was my first attempt at a mobius wrap and hopefully you can see well enough in the picture that it actually turned out quite well. If you've been reading my blog recently you'll also notice it's the same yarn as my bellflower cowl. I can't wait until May to pick up more of Tess' yarn at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!

WiP Wednesday #12

So I've at least made some progress this week! Happy Leap Day as well!

On my mitered baby squares blanket here's where it stands

It's actually a small bit further because the first two rows are joined so it's halfway joined!

My Hex bag should be done by Friday (yes that's one of my little helpers in the far right...he sees this opportunity as any other cat does, "yay Mommy laid out another kitty blanket").

I'm also doing the Waverly for Bernat CAL and I keep falling slightly behind just because I have so much going on! This is the Week 2 clue. Week 3 actually comes out today but I still have 2 more of the below motifs to make! Shouldn't take long at all, they're 11x11 motifs.

Now for a few quick sneak peaks at Friday FO's and upcoming projects

FO to be revealed Friday

Another FO to be revealed Friday

Finally, here's an upcoming cast-on I hope to share next Wednesday. I'm going to use my skein of Bernat Sox for Wingspan

My craft time is starting to be limited during the day because of this next picture...

She got up there by herself...she's 7 months next Wednesday. OH MY are we in trouble sooner then we thought or what? Hehe

FO Friday #12

I promised pictures this week for FO Friday and boy do I have them! We'll get straight to them, too!

Here's my Bellflower cowl I made with my yarn from Tess':

I've worn this at least every other day in the past week, I'm obsessed with it. I made another one in navy blue but the sun isn't quite up enough yet for a good picture so maybe next week.

The rainbow criss-cross cowl has also been completed:

I thought I would've hated the rainbow colored yarn but I actually quite like the effect it turned out with. Here's another of it next to the other criss-cross cowl I've done recently that's a little more neutral and subtle:

Also completed my February square for the Donna Kay Lacey Whimsical Wonderland BAM CAL. My first attempts at tapestry crochet and I'm fairly happy with it:

The group also did a mystery square this past week and I took part in that as well. Loving this square a ton. I did switch colors on the outside rounds but mostly because I wanted the blue pop in the middle instead of on all the surface crochet.

Hmm, what else. Little girl (who sounds like she's waking up so I must type faster) now has a toy basket for some board books for her playroom:

The pattern turned out to be a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Sometimes I really wish people would clearly put final dimensions somewhere on things. If I do this one again, it'll be about twice the size to be much more usable.

The Waverly for Bernat CAL/KAL started up two days ago and I've done a total of 1 out of the 12 squares for this week's first clue so....that's what I'll be doing this weekend apparently.

My lonely square

I guess the above square is more a work in progress thing but still, I was excited to show it and didn't finish it until AFTER Wednesday :)

Last one, Lisa Gentry's Hook and Needle Designs Rav group is having their monthly contest and I completed my entry. It's a cute little heart doily with some flair on the edge :)

Whew...ok my marathon of two weeks worth of FO's since I didn't get to post last week is now complete! Have to find time today to catch up on everyone else's blogs too! Happy Friday!

WiP Wednesday #11

Whew! I haven't posted since last Wednesday? So behind!
Little one is on the move like anything and keeping me busy during the day. She's also trying tons of new purees and finger foods which means I'm on baby food making duty!

Onto crocheting!

Not too much picture progress this week (lots for FO Friday though)

Still working on my Mitered Squares Baby Blanket.
All the squares are complete, I'm just in the process of joining right now. The pattern was very vague in how to join and I decided I'd much prefer to do a braided join instead as it adds a small bit of size to the blanket as well yet still keeping it carseat size :)

I'm about done a second bellflower cowl as well. I know, I know...you haven't seen the final of that first one yet. Like I said, coming on Friday! This one is a basic navy yet still pretty.

I forsee 2-3 new starts this week/weekend so next week's WiP will hold some brand spankin' new-ness!

WiP Wednesday #10

I've got plenty in progress for this week! I don't THINK the people who I'm making these baby blankets for read the blog but even if they do, I have so many pregnant friends right now that they wouldn't know it was for them or which one was for them so I'll share anyways :).

Here's the beginnings of my Popcorn Stitch Blanket. It's one of my favorite quick go-to blanket patterns when it comes to baby blankets. Both blankets are being made for friends who are among the group who wish to be surprised when it comes to finding out if they're having a boy or girl thus the neutrals in both.

I did try to switch up the neutrals in this one instead of just doing a straight yellow blanket, I chose to do two shades of yellow (both Caron One Pound) to give it a little variety and I have to say I'm loving it so far. It's a subtle difference but enough to give it character.

My other new favorite go-to baby blanket pattern is the Mitered Squares. The squares are all single crochet so they work up so so speedy! I did 12 out of the 20 yesterday so surely by the end of the week I'll have at least the squares completed and hopefully I will have started joining them!

I've also got my mystery square CAL going for the Donna Kay Lacey "A New Twist" Rav group. Here's a progress photo so far. Well, by so far I mean the first day's clue. This post will go up before I have a chance to add the second day's clue onto it.

Also on a sidenote:

I've been eyeing up the new Bernat Waverly for weeks now and telling myself "You do not need to join in the Bernat Waverly CAL/KAL" and guess what...I'm joining in on it when it starts next week.

BUT I HAVE GOOD REASON I PROMISE!

The husband, little one and I went to Michael's over the weekend because they had a good price on a play tunnel that we were going to get. We're in the store and hubby actually asks, "You want to go look at yarn?" My reaction was, "Sure, I"ll go quickly look but I don't think I NEED anything"

FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS.

I walked by the Bernat Waverly display and glanced as I have been doing for weeks except this time it was different. Tons of tiny red "CLEARANCE" stickers caught my eye! Could it be? YES! My Michaels store put Bernat Waverly on clearance! So for that price, how could I really pass up getting the yarn for the CAL and using the blanket as a Christmas present for someone who shall remain nameless!

Thinking I may sneak back over there this week and see about getting a few skeins for myself though :)

One A Day Tuesday Tallies #5

So my ripple blanket is still growing however I need more yarn...argh. And I'm using Herrschners brand so I'm giving it a few weeks to see if they come out with a free shipping promotion but until then I have a new One A Day! Using up some Simply Soft to make a Hexagon Bag for myself :).

The amount of projects I've made using the below colors (as much as I love them) I'm glad this will use up the last bit of each! The purple and aqua have been part of two amigurumi monkeys for baby gifts. The aqua and dark teal were a cowl. The pink was a cardigan.

So more or less these skeins of yarn have had their lifetime dragged out in many projects. It's the end of the line for this stash!

I completed 7 this week and hopefully another 7-10 next week. They whip up so quick, I love them. They're so cute!

WiP Wednesday #9

This week apparently I'm on a cowl, blanket and block working up week! Since it's Feb. 1 all the new blocks came out for the CALs I'm in sooo... I have 4-5 blocks to work up for the month, I'm excited!

As for stuff already in progress, most of the blankets I share here in other posts so I won't repeat them but nobody as seen the cowls yet!

First up (above) is my Belleflower Infinity scar using my merino superwash from Tess' Designer Yarns in Portland, Me. As you can tell from the picture it's a new start but man do I love this yarn, it's sooo so soft! This project is for me and only me, I've already claimed it!

Next up is my criss-cross cowl off the Caron yarns website. I have one done that I'll likely share on Friday but I had to share this one as I love how the rainbow yarn is carrying itself up the criss-croww pattern on the outside! This is being done with Loops & Threads Impeccable.

As soon as the little one wakes up and we get some breakfast, it's off to Michaels to buy some more Impeccable for a baby blanket that needs to be done. Turns out I remembered I needed to make one expecting friend but realized I had another expecting from who is due sooner so I need to get going on these! I have so many friends expecting little ones is exciting but makes things busy :-P (although worth it).

]These two friends aren't finding out the gender of their little one and are sticking to the neutral colors so one blanket will be all yellow with a sunshine applique on it using this pattern as a base: Baby Popcorn Afghan.

The other will be brown, tan, white, yellow, green and made using this pattern: Mitered Squares Baby Throw.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies #4

Annnddd....it's Tuesday already!

The ripple continues to grow :)
And this week, meet Mac and Cheese...our two orange tabby cats who seem to think this, like every other blanket, is theirs.

Mac is always first to get comfy on something

Just to keep it new and fresh every week I'm starting a new, smaller One A Day project to do along with my ripple blanket.

This is the only hint picture I can give you because I thought of this idea when I was going through my stash last night at 10 pm.

FO Friday #11

After spending most of January making progress on blankets/new starts for the year, I do have another FO to share!

It's my Sensational Lacy Scarf made of size 3 crochet thread, which took forever but I'm quite happy with the result :) Enjoy!

I wish I would've had this ready to photograph on Monday when it was somehow 55 degrees outside (some winter) and sunny! Today it's rather rainy and gloomy outside, ew.