My crafting goals for 2011

I see everyone doing their knitting goals on twitter and other blogs, so I thought I would join in.

Only, I would like to spread all my abilities this year, so this might be lengthy.



Knitting:
-at least 4 pairs of socks this year. (to practice my sock making skillz)
-5 lacy shawls
-10 scarves
-15 hats
-at least 2 fingerless gloves
-I would really like to get a sweater in for myself, something comfy


Crochet:
-at least 7 scarves
-at least 5 hats
-3-4 bags

Embroidery/cross stitch:
-Really work on my abilities
-Take it all to a whole new level, and try to make things fun
-I would like to do one embroidery a month. At least

Sewing/quilting:
-one quilt this year
-One sewn purse a month



Patterns I MUST do:
-Lacy Baktus by Terhi Montonen
-Pedestrian Crossing Cowl by Melissa
-Betiko by Lee Meredith
-End of May Hat by Mandy Powers
-Citron by Hilary Smith Callis
-Bowtie Pi by Cheri McEwen
-Basic Cabled Socks by Brainylady


This will definately be a post I keep coming back to!
What are your New Years crafting resolutions?

We were at the beach, Everybody had matching towels

So for another part of my Christmas presents to friends (we technically have not really exchanged presents yet) I plan on giving everyone a personalized embroidery.

I just finished up Liz's embroidery!

We always jam out to the song Rock Lobster, and for the longest time I thought one of they lyrics was "Incane the narwhal". It didnt make sense. One day she realized what I was saying and laughed at me. It's so obvious I was wrong. The actual lyrics are "In Came The Narwhal".

Duhness.


So for part of her Christmas present I stitched this up.

Hard to tell what the lime green says in the photo (The Narwhal) but it is not too bad in real life. Lime green is/was her favorite color forevvvver.

So I am going to go out and buy cute little frames for everyone and then have each person an individualized special embroidery.

But for now I have to sleep, throwing a family New Years party tomorrow during the day, and then spending the night with Steve and my friends!

:)

Happy almost New Years everyone!

Hawks Game!

Ok this will be my last non-craft post of the day. (though I consider cooking to be a craft, and so under that circumstance, this is the first and last non crafting post. hahaha)

Steve received two Blackhawks tickets form his parents and he invited me to come along. It has been 13 years since he was at a game, and the only game I have been at was a Wolves game the he took me to a few months ago. So this was the first Hawks game (of many to come I hope!)

It was a pretty cool experience. Mind you, I am not the sports fan. But Steve invited me to watch the Championship game (where the Hawks won the Stanley Cup) and after that we started hanging out more, and he asked me out on July 4th! (at a Schaumburg Flyers baseball game) So I feel that since sports brought us together, I might as well give it a taste. And truthfully... I don't hate sports. I cannot stand watching it on TV. Especially hockey. I can never see where the puck is. So I totally dig going to actually watch a hockey game, in the audience.

It's so much fun to hear what everyone around you has to say.... hahaha

Yay!

Me and Steve enjoying our seats!

Surprise surprise! We found one of my best friends Liz there! Literally four rows behind us! Imagine that, United Center, full up. And she was literally right behind us!!!


I'm starting to like sports. *Gasp*

Tamales!

Later yesterday, Steve and I traveled over to my friend Sarah's house to meet up with everyone and make tamales the traditional way!

We do this at least once a year, and its always so much fun!

I grew up with this group of people and I would jump in front of a bullet for each and every one of them. And truthfully where I live when I am not at school, getting shot at is not out of the question.


I have the best group of friends a girl can ask for, and a boyfriend that they all approve of! that makes me :)

Steve and Sarah stuffing and folding the tamales

Filling the pot

They turned out delicious, and we made enough for Sarah to give out a bag to each person!

Dinner for the next couple days!

Corn Dogs!

One of the presents Steve got me this year was a corn dog mix! There are many a nights where I get a huge craving for a corn dog, and being in a small town like Charleston... well there are not many places to get corn dogs. So he bought me a corn dog kit!!!

We spent an hour or so working on making them up, really simple. But things did not turn out.... amazing.


Tasted like a corn dog, but.... the looks had.... much to be desired!

But hey. Looks dont matter as long as the food tastes good! and it darn well did!

ehhhh.... ish?

And then beautiful me to make up for the crappy but delicious corn dogs!

yum!

Funky Watermelon!

I have a lot of yarn. I am not kidding. Bags, upon bags upon bags, upon underbed storage containers (6) upon a huge IKEA storage container full (6 feet x 4 feet) Upon those big tupperware containers (4) upon randomly stashed and bagged lone skeins.

So. My goal for this new year is to start using all the crappy cheap ...... acrylic.... yarn, so I can make room for the beautiful stuff I will be receiving, or have already received.

This was one of those stash busters. I know years back I had used some of this yarn, and I hated it. No tag, no label, cant remember what it is. But its not that bad! I think I knit with it last time, and it kept splitting on me. But crochet is the way to go with it!

Kitty wanted to get in on it! BTW she has been feeling better! No waking me up in the middle of the night with a cough!


Off to the boyfriends now to make corndogs from the mix he got me for Christmas, then back to my hometown to make tamales with my childhood friends! Its an awesome tradition and it lets me learn how to make things from other cultures!

I love my friends so much!

The devil socks.... are done.

I finally binded off.

And I am so happy to do so.

I learned some things while making this pair of socks for Liz.

-I knit loose, so I have to use smaller than size US 2 2.75 mm needles next time.
-I might as well use sport weight in stead of sock weight. Then again if I just change one of these issues it might make things so much better.
-My stitches can be uneven. its not noticeable in thicker yarns, but this tiny yarn shows everything.
- Some where... somehow... I added an extra curve on the left sock.

NO IDEA WHEN THAT HAPPENED!!!


I love this pattern- Kalajoki by Tiina Seppala.
I just did not use the right materials. So this will be something I redo in the future. I feel as if even though I have been knitting and crocheting for years, when it comes to socks, I feel like a beginner.

I knit it too big, probably should not have added extra stitches, so now I cant really block it, because if I do it will only make it huger. Which means.... when the socks are not on someones feet, the design scrunches up and looks really bad. which is why I did not show the design....

I want to promise my friend Sarah (Rainlover at Ravelry)
- that I will keep at it.
- No matter how much I hate socks.
- No matter how many scarves I can make in the time it takes me to make the pair of socks (2) or hats (4)
- I will put time aside to perfect my sock knitting.
- I will buy smaller needles... or thicker yarn
- I will find a pattern that is well written (like this one!)
- I will learn the basics of socks (which with the 4 pairs I have done so far I am slowly learning)
- I will actually use stitch markers the entire time. Cause gosh darnit it was hard to try and figure out stuff without stitch markers
- I will make a pair of socks that fit correctly, with even stitches, and beautiful design, by the end of 2011.
- I will give these newly knit, perfect socks to Liz for the 2011 Christmas presents. Because I will be proud of my work!

Done. and Done.



Now to go to my friends place to hang out with all the kids I grew up with!!!

:)

Swap

I would really like to do a swap.

I plan on getting a couple of these : https://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10052&productId=10001232&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=10000002&top_category=10000002&categoryId=10000033&top=¤tPage=0&sort=&viewAll=N&rn=CategoriesDisplay&WT.ac=10001232

I will fill it up with yarn/knitting notions/random goodies/and possibly a pattern or two.

Is anyone interested in doing a swap with me?

Fit whatever you can into this size ^ of a box (you can get them shipped free to your house or apartment) and then send it off. I can only do a couple of these swaps, but I will make it fun! I promise you won't get an entire box of acrylic!!!

(and I will find you if thats what you send me!!! :) )

Let me know if your interested, comment on this post, and I will randomly choose a couple people to do this swap with!


Rock on!

Merry day after Christmas

What I am working on. G Dawg.

So, I have a lot of little projects going on. Liz's socks are the big thing right now, and I am hopefully just about done with that. I got halfway through the arch of the foot and realized I did not account for the extra stitches I added in, so the triangle on the side of the foot was not there. I had to pull back all my stitches and start again. sigh...

Also started a baby hat, just to start a small collection for sale in my store. Maybe 2 or 3 cute little hats! Not sure yet.

Started another hat, with the panda silk I got from my friend Sarah, http://www.rainloverknits.com, and have not gotten very far on that since I threw it down to work on Liz's socks.

Last but not least, I started a crochet hat with some of this really interesting yarn... did not have a tag, so I don't know the actual yarn. But it looks like it has little wormies in it!!! I will crochet the whole scarf in this pink color, and then single crochet all around the edges with a green in the same yarn, so it has a cute little watermelon look to it.

Off to work on Liz's socks for a bit, then out to hang with my hometown group of friends!!!

Household of sick cats....

So... my family owns two cats, Callie (calico) and Smokey (grey mutt of a cat). And I have my boyfriends cat, Kitty, over winter break.

Well.... lets just say its been a fun house. Smokey and Callie found a package of ground beef that my mother forgot to put away. Not only did one, or both of them eat the ground beef (almost the entire pound) but they also chewed up all the styrofoam wrapper, and left it all over the floor. They are the nicest kitties in the world..... not.

So now I am on puke control with those two... wooo...

^ Callie

^ Smokey

^Kitty



THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! (I warned you)
Now Kitty is sick, and I have brought her to the vet multiple times. The vet gives her antibiotics, she gets the runs from the meds, and seems to get better, but then she has the runs....

The past couple nights though I get woken up by a kitty who is hacking like nuts. No stuffed nose, no runny eyes so its not allergies. She never really actually coughs up anything, but it sounds like she has a whole bunch of phlegm stuck in her throat. I stayed up with her and tried her massage her to help, didnt work. So after doing some research I read a bunch about taking a shower and letting the cat sit in the bathroom so it loosens up the boogeys.

I figure why not? except that its 2 in the morning, I was supposed to be up three hours later... No shower for me. I improvised. Put Kitty in the cat carrier, boiled some water, put the bowl of water outside of the carrier, and then covered everything with towels to keep the steam in.

WHHHHAAAA LLLLAAAAHHHH!!!!

Kitty can now breathe and is not hacking up anything!

I was able to sleep for a couple more hours, and then had to repeat the whole procedure again. But Kitty knew what was up now, and made sure she was waiting in the carrier by the time I came with the water.

She has also been reduced to a rice/chicken/water diet. The last few times we were at the vet they said that Kitty has the runs for one reason or another, and they put her on meds. It may or may not go away for a couple days, and then comes back. So we take her back to the vet. same deal, over and over again. Finally I just decided, the vet has no idea whats going on or else Kitty would be healthy and I wouldn't be out 200 $.... So I had her fast for 13 ish hours with just water, and jump started her diet. So far, it seems to be a little better, there is more solid now... not by much though. Its an improvement though...


Is there anyone out there that can help me out here? It's currently Sunday so I cannot really take her to the vet, and its not a huge emergency because she eats like nuts, drinks like nuts, looks healthy, acts healthy, and just seems like a happy kitty. I will probably call up an old family friend who used to be a vet tomorrow, cause I really want a healthy cat...

She is such a sweetheart. Curled up under the covers with me last night. I hate to see her sick...

Moon At Noon

New Hat and Cowl Set!!!

25$ Free shipping in my Etsy shop!!!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

Ok. Now I am done....

The lack of a pyroclastic flow was killing me. For those who don't know what this is, it is the fast moving current of rock and hot gas, upwards of 1,830 degrees F. It usually hugs the ground and travels downhill (so down the side of the volcano). Pompeii was engulfed by a pyroclastic flow, and it just ruins towns on impact.

So since its a volcano, and it was missing the pyroclastic flow, I added it in. Technically. Abstractly.

Because I didn't feel like adding in another boring cloud.
So if Steve has any issues with figuring out what this embroidery is, its literally spelled out for him now. :)







Ok, gonna go soak it and let it dry before framing and wrapping it.

Halfway done with Liz's left sock. Once that is done I will block and wrap them.

Shopping with the mother at 5 today! Going to get me some teacher clothes for Christmas!

Volcano Cross Stitch = Best Girlfriend award?

Ok. After literally working all day on this project. I think I am nearing the end. I am debating putting in a pyroclastic cloud along the lava flow on the right bottom side, but its a big debate. Also, clouds. I feel like it needs more color, and blue would be perfect. If your reading this, should I add something? Or stitch "Volcano" on the right side and leave it be? Help? Ideas to make this more kickass?


Full out view of the volcano. The lines in the volcano represent the layers of magma throughout the years. You have the magma chamber at the bottom, with different colors of thread (red and orange, hard to see with the minimal light I have). YOu have a secondary cone to the left, which releases some pressure from the main crater. The ash cloud is at the top with volcanic bombs.


Look at those cute little volcanic bombs!!! :)


And my favorite part, the part that took most of my time, was the magma chamber. I love this chamber ubber much. UBBER!

I plan on framing it, and then gifting it to him on the 24th when my family is celebrating Christmas. So I still have a day to go before I have to have it done.

i think that I dun good with his Christmas presents.

For mom, I am sewing up a footstool cover, quilt style. Her father made this cute little footstool and her mom had a small "quilt" sewn up for the cushion. But after years and years of wear and tear, the top ripped and became threadbare. So i am hopefully going to find some fabric just like whats on there already, (maybe reaching out to some awesome quilters out there!) and then make her a new cover.

For dad?.... peanut M&M's. and the thought that he will only have to deal with two cats instead of three after the Christmas season, once I take Steves and my cat back to school.

For my friend Liz... Socks... as we know already. And those are just about done. Though I have been stalling because its not 'due' until next Wednesday. So I have a week to knit a sock, when it only took me a day and a half to knit the first one. Easy peasy.

I also have a purple Homespun scarf to knit up for a friend at school, who is paying me, so its not really a gift....

uhh.... hmmmmm I still have a bunch of UFO's laying around that I would like to clear up by New Years, so I can get a new start to the year...

But at least my big worry project is done (Unless anyone has anymore ideas!!!)

Now to bed.... So I can wake up and get more stuff done in my life during this free vacation!

Rock your world?

Ok, I have to share this.

I visited my cousin, who used to own a store here in Berwyn called "The Little Rock Shop". She shut down years ago, but still follows rocks and makes beautiful jewelry. Since my boyfriend is a big... "rock" freak, I decided to give her a call asking if she has anything that I could buy from her that he might appreciate it.

I have the coolest cousin ever. As soon as I walked in she handed me a huge Quartz, that has rutile and Tourmaline. (If I misspell something forgive me, even though my boyfriend likes rocks, I don't understand the names. All I know is they are pretty :) )
Its such a cool rock because its all clear, but it has these intense rods going through them. It is so pretty.... I kinda don't want to give it up.




Next up she grabbed a pyrite with emeralds in it. She told me that if he decides he really likes me then he can get those emeralds cut out and made into a ring for me. (Crossing my fingers!!!)

This rock is just... so freaking awesome.




The other reason I am so excited about these two amazing rocks, is that they were free. I tried to give her money (mind you I am a college student... so it was a feeble attempt) but this is how great of a person she is. She handed these rocks, with EMERALDS.... for free.


What a good day!

I also ordered him a rock from a store on Etsy.com. It was pricy... ugh... and its tiny compared to the rocks cousin gave me... but I couldnt resist. it was pretty... So this rock has pyrite, which is the gold sparkly parts, feldspar which is the peachy colored nodule, Quartz which is the crystals, aquamarine the green/blue band on the bottom, and Calcite which creates a shimmer when you turn the stone. It sure is purdy, and it has a ton of different types of the good stuff I think he is looking for.




Still working on the volcano cross stitch. still.... working.....

Ummmm... Move?

So I was working on my boyfriends Christmas present. A cross stitch ish diagram of a volcano. He wants to be an earth science/geology teacher when we graduates, and loves watching "How the Earth was Made" and tv shows like "Blue Planet". He actually owns most of the series. My favorite episodes are the ones with volcanos. So I decided.... why not?

Two hours into it I was needing a break. And I believe my cat Callie thought so too. She decided to... interrupt....






When I finally pushed her off of my materials so I could start sewing again.... she ignored me.... silly kitty.




I should get most of this embroidery done by tonight. I plan on sitting down with my mom, watch a movie, and stitch until my fingers bleed. Which is getting very close, because it hurts to type.


I will work on Liz's socks if I get bored!

Knit Meter

I have another New Years resolution.

Starting on the 1st, I will start with http://knitmeter.com/ and count how many feet I knit in 2011. I know of counters that count how many stitches a person does, but truthfully..... I dont want to count my stitches. That just seems like way too much work.


So 2011. Do your worst.

Anyone else want to join me?

Jennifer's Christmas present!

I knit up this scarf for Jen! She is my cousins wife and just the cutest and most bubbly person I know!

I started out taking the picture of the full out scarf. And then things turned sour.




KITTY!








It looks like it is crocheted. But that is not the case. It is knit. full out. Surprise!