What is it about wanting to knit everything and anything you see in a book, magazine, Ravelry or on a friend or that a friend has made? I just have to stop! I mean I will never, ever have time to make everything I have a pattern for, but that doesn’t make me want them any less!
Here are some of my most recent book and pattern purchases and why I wanted them!
First I lucked up and got a lot of doilie booklets on eBay and only really wanted the Vintage “Coffee and Cream Doilies” one. I got this whole lot (which included the Coffee and Cream one) for less than just buying the one Vintage book. She even included some extra one’s and 2 of them are from the 1940’s!
Next, a few pattern booklets and a couple of books.
The first Yarnplay and Yarnplay at Home are 2 books in one, which I received from my Craft book club. Very worth keeping. Here’s a few things from that book that I want to knit.
A couple from my new Amigurumi book…
some from Simply Knitting magazine…
more, more, more
now to find the time and extra pair of hands…!
I also got my elann.com skein samples for May and had to put in an order for some of the NEW Luna! I’ve already swatched for my next project.
Last but not least my copy of Hungry Girl came and it’s a wealth of knowledge as well as great recipes for low calorie eating. Check out www.hungry-girl.com for more info.
Why am I still sitting here… I’ve got knitting to do!
I had been wanting to try knitting and crocheting with wire and beads to create jewelry for some time now and this morning I saw Cat of www.letsknit2gether.com demonstrate (very nicely I might add) how to knit a bracelet. You can find her video here. This was a quick 1 hr project and was a nice break from more intricate knitting. Believe it or not this bracelet is surprisingly soft and comfortable to wear.
So with out further a-do here is my first try at knitting with wire!
You can also find Cat on Ravelry as letsknit2gether so stop by and say hello and see all of her beautiful knitting projects. She is super talented and her podcast link is in my sidebar. I find her video podcast very informative and entertaining as well as inspiring!
Cat also suggested a couple of books that she has found helpful.
First the Lady … she is one of my long time WIP’s and my goal this year was to finish all of my WIP’s! I am well on my way and now have over half of the Lady finished, and I had forgotten how much fun entrelac is. It also helps to know how to knit backwards so you don’t have to constantly turn your work. It is a great technique to avoid purling on all of your wrong side rows, which is great for entrelac as usually you only have 8 or less stitches. The KnitWitch has a great video on this technique here. You can find the Lady E pattern in the book Scarf Style.
I’ve also finished and felted my Stained Glass Fan Bag and lined it as well. I now just have to find the perfect handles for it. The hardest part of any handbag is finding the perfect handles.
I also found the time to finish a quick potholder called Origami Hot Pad. This was really super fast and I started and finished it this past Sunday afternoon.
On Tuesday, April 8th my husband and I had our 30 year anniversary. We spent the day together and had a really enjoyable day. He took me to Borders to buy knitting and crochet magazine’s and I of course I had to have a cold cappuccino at the coffee shop in Borders. We had lunch at Max and Erma’s and he also took me back to the church where we were married. We only drove around the church as it is also a private Christian school so we didn’t go in. The cemetery where my dad is buried is also behind the church, so it was nice to go to my dad’s grave as I hadn’t seen the grave marker since it had been placed.
My husband also took the whole week off, so we went out to eat much more than we normally would. Our daughter had sent us a gift certificate for Outback Steakhouse, so we went there on Thursday and then we went for lunch on Friday to Boston Market.
I get up on Wednesday morning to a surprise that my husband had put in our living room. He had bought a grandfather clock for our 30 year anniversary and although it is huge, I know it will be an heirloom to pass down for generations. He got a great deal on it at Sofa Express who is going out of business and he said he just couldn’t pass it up. I am getting used to it now and love the sounds it makes every 15 minutes.
Ok, that’s enough for now. .. I have a test knit cardigan that is on my needles now for LilyGo. I am giving it to my mom for Mother’s Day so I can’t blog about it until it’s done, as I want the color and pattern to be a surprise. So, look for that post later.
Some links in this post are Ravelry links…you aren’t on Ravelry?
I completed the Noah’s Ark Blanket this past Saturday and I am very pleased with how it came out. It was so much fun to crochet and was a nice change from knitting. Even though I consider myself a fast crocheter and knitter, I believe anyone would consider this project a fast crochet. So if you want a really cute, easy and fast baby gift for your grand baby, baby or someone special I would whole heartily suggest this blanket.
Here is a close up view of the ark and animals.
I found this cute cloud pattern on Ravelry by Andrea Moberly (Rain Cloud) and thought it was the perfect addition to this project! She is a very talented designer! I also just purchased her JoJo the Giraffe pattern and I am looking forward to making it sometime soon!
You can purchase her JoJo the Giraffe pattern on Ravelry and store it in your Ravelry library until you are ready to start it which is great. If you are not on Ravelry you can find the pattern at her Etsy store.
I wanted to show the back of my blanket too, as I think it’s very important to take the time to sew your ark and animals on carefully so that no thread seams show on the back. After all you want the back to look nice too!
Project Details
Started: April 2, 2008
Finished: April 12, 2008
Pattern: Noah’s Ark Baby Blanket in Crochet! Magazine May 2008
Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus Solid
Modifications: I added the Rain Cloud and used smaller hook size on the elephant’s trunk, giraffe’s antlers and spots. I also preferred the wrong side to show for the ark and elephant.
My most recent project is this cute little baby blanket by Michele Wilcox. It is the Noah’s Ark Baby Blanket and the pattern is in the Crochet! Magazine, May 2008 issue.
I am finished with all of the animals and am now working to complete the background sky part of the blanket. This has really been a quick, fun project and the pattern is very easy to follow. I also love the yarn that it calls for which is TLC Cotton Plus. This is my favorite cotton yarn to use for dishcloth’s as it retains it’s size and doesn’t shrink and it doesn’t fade. So, this is a perfect yarn for this project. It is also very soft and drape able.
Lately I have been knitting and crocheting some market bags. The type you use to replace the plastic grocery bags that they put your groceries in. I love this idea as there are way too many of these plastic bags ending up in our land fill’s.
You can read a great article on this at Sack the Plastic Bag. I want to do my part to be eco-friendly and green!
First I crocheted these two, one in a lime green and one in navy blue.
I loved the color and I’m giving this one to my daughter to use as a beach bag.
The last one is also knitted and it’s called Everlasting Bagstopper. I really enjoyed the knitting pattern on this one and found it the most fun to make. Here are some photo’s of it.
Sunday a week ago me and my friend Aura got together to crochet and knit at Caribou Coffee. Here she is with her finished Crochet Market Bag. She has since finished a blue one using the nylon thread as well. These bags are very addictive and a nice quick project for fast gratification.
This past Saturday the Knit Nuts got together for our monthly meetup and when I arrived there were 3 friends (Sandy, Donna and Judy) that had already been there knitting away. I quickly introduced myself and once Pam arrived we all sat and chatted about our projects and shared some great relaxing knitting time.
Here is a little slide showing some of our projects…
Thank you Sandy, Donna and Judy for sharing your love of knitting with us and please come next month and join us again! Or, if you all are already there…we’ll join you! LOL
Here’s a peek at what I have been working on lately. I found this adorable hot pad pattern on Ravelry and just had to make it. It is called Crochet Flower Hot Pad. It was so easy! I was amazed at how quickly it crocheted up.
Here are a couple photo’s of it the first on the left after all the crocheting is done and before folding…and on the right after folding.
They are quite addictive! Here is my second and I have plans for more too as I think that they will make great gifts. More info on mine here at Ravelry. There is also a similar pattern for a pot holder called Pinwheel Star and mid way down on that page is a great folding tutorial. Then if you get really adventurous, you can try the 10 Point Hot Pad!
Why is it that I just can’t let a good coupon go to waste? Are you like that too? Michaels, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore all usually have 40% coupon’s on a regular basis in the Sunday paper or that you can print from the web. Well, this past Sunday, Michaels and AC Moore had a 50% coupon that could only be used Sunday and Monday.
My husband and I had to run to Sam’s Club for some groceries but first we stopped by AC Moore for me to get a book with my 50% coupon. I picked up this nice hardback, “A Treasury of Rowan Knits”, it would normally be $39.99 and I would be hard pressed to purchase it, but with a coupon….SCORE!
I then went next door to the Target and purchased mittens. Lot’s and lots’ of mittens! Sharon in our Knit Nut’s knitting group said that she add’s a knitted fun fur cuff to these for special gifts at Christmas. So, I purchased these for myself and duplicates for Aura too, after my friend Pam told me she found them for 18 cents a pair! Again…SCORE!
Hopefully Sharon will teach us how!
Then on to Michaels to use my 50% coupon. I found “The Knitter’s Bible of Knitted Accessories” there…(photo above) SCORE!
Last but not least I wanted to share a photo of my daughter’s Valentine gift to us. She sent us some yummy goodies and they were packaged so pretty in a red box with a satin pink ribbon tied in a bow!
