I'm BACK!!!

I know its been forever...or so it seems. But family comes first. Now that my mom is settled in the nursing home and her house is sold and finances are taken care of, I can relax and get back into my blogging. And I did NOT forget about the contest. It will officially begin on October 1st. Since I have been gone 3 months, I know a lot of you have given up on me and I want to be fair so that everyone has a chance to win, I will let the contest run for the entire month of October. The prize will be what you see in the photo....3, 50g. balls of Elann Esprit cotton/elastic yarn.....perfect for a pair of crocheted socks! On October 1st, I will post what the contest is about. Its very easy and anyone who crochets can enter.

As for what I have been up to for the past several months, I did NOT stop crocheting. In fact, if you check my Flickr link, you will see several new FO's. I am not going post a lot about them here. Most were gifts for my b/f's grandkids. Right now, I am working on charity pieces....a poncho, a sweater, hair scrunchies, hats, scarves, etc., along with holiday gifts. Most of these I will post about in the near future. On my hook at the moment, is the Dusk Sweater  from the Fall edition of Interweave Crochet. Its a pretty easy, but very lovely design. I cant wait to finish it.

That's all for the moment. Now I have to go around and visit all the blogs of my friends and fellow crocheters that I have not been able to get to for so long.

Crochet, Away!

Southwest Salsa Sport Socks

How's THAT for alliteration? :)

I still haven't gotten my D's bag done....ran out of yarn. This week I have to take a trip to the craft store. But my sock yarn has been calling to me for quite awhile now and I just HAD to make a pair. I found the basic pattern for this pair HERE, but I changed a few things to make it fit me better. The result was these socks. They are made from my stash of Crystal Palace Panda Cotton. The yarn is SOOO soft and comfortable! The color is Nasturtium and it is HOT! It reminds me of fresh salsa. I wish I had a pair of clear shoes to wear with them. This is not a difficult pattern and I will probably make more.

Crochet, Away!

Butterfly Wing Shawl

I LOVE this shawl. The pattern is definitely a keeper. It's easy but it looks SO elegant. Took me only 2 nights to make it. I used Cotton Plus instead of a laceweight yarn but, surprisingly, it's not heavy and it drapes SOO nicely. Not to mention it's easy care....machine wash and dry. This is the second one I've made and it wont be the last. Find the pattern HERE.

I want to thank everyone for their birthday wishes, here and on Ravelry. Yarn artists are the BEST people! Next post will be about the contest....I promise! :)

Crochet, Away!

Another Birthday

Today was my birthday....I am now 54. I dont feel any older :)

It was a nice day. My D came over and visited with me....we had fun. She brought me a balloon bouquet and some fancy beads from the party store.....she said she was broke :) I told her she didnt have to get me anything.....it was nice just being with her.

When my b/f came home, he had a lovely bouquet of flowers in a pretty mug/vase for me as well as the SWEETEST birthday card. Inside was an envelope with $200 for me to get my hair done! I blubbered like a baby. I was NOT expecting anything since he already spent $400 on new glasses for my birthday. I have the most GENEROUS b/f.....I dont know if I deserve it.

Will be back soon with the contest. Hang in there! :)

Crochet, Away!

Holy Cow!!

I cant believe it! I missed my Blogiversary! I thought about it last month and then I got wrapped up in family stuff and I totally MISSED it! It was May 16th of last year that I started this blog journey of mine. I have enjoyed every minute of it. But its success is mainly to due to all the wonderful people who have visited my blog and commented on my projects. Without YOU, I would probably have stopped this thing ages ago. It wasnt my intention, initially, to look for people to visit.....I just wanted to have a place to showcase my work. But the warmth and support of all of you has inspired me more than I ever thought I could be. So its partly YOUR blogiversary, too. And to celebrate, I am going to have a contest, which I will go into more detail about later. Its my way of thanking ALL of you for coming here and reading about my crocheting. So stay tuned :)

Crochet, Away!

Mystery Shawl

Yeah....I said I was going to work on the bag. Well, one of the ladies on Ravelry wanted to have a Mystery Laceweight Shawl CAL, so having never made a laceweight shawl before, I couldnt resist. If you have a hankering to CAL, go over to Tracey's blog....the directions are there. You can see here how mine is so far. I am using Patons Lacette and a size "I" hook. The lacette was a bargain....found it at JoAnn's reduced from $6.49 a skein to $2.97. I bought 8 skeins, and should only need 3 for the shawl. I will post more photos as the shawl progresses. I think its a gorgeous pattern and I have never done anything this elaborate before.
Crochet, Away!

An Experiment

I found a pattern in the book Crochet for Babies for the Get Up 'N Go shirt. The pattern calls for it to be made in 2 pieces....front and back....but I wanted to see if I could make it in one piece. And this is the result. Its more a sweater than shirt but I only had 2 seams....underarm and side. I like how it came out. Its a size 2T so its too big for Sydney, but I am going to give it to her anyway....she can wear it next year.

Next up is the Lotus Bag for my D...she will be thrilled since I started it last FALL :D

Crochet, Away!

For Sydney

I dont know why, but I seem to work better under pressure. I dont ENJOY working that way, but I am more productive. I have had Sydney's outfit half done for WEEKS but just decided yesterday that I HAD to finish it since her birthday is next week. So here it is....the Pretty in Pink Sundress and Hat from the Simple Crochet for Cherished Babies book. (If you click the link and scroll down, you will find they show some pages from the book and you can pick up a pattern free! ) I used Cotton Plus and a G hook instead of DK weight yarn and and E hook so its heavier but I like the easy care of the yarn. The shrug I designed myself....I thought the dress needed a LITTLE something so you could dress it up or down. I think its a perfect add on.

Not sure what the next project will be...maybe something for ME? :)

ETA: The outfit was a hit.....especially the shrug. She put it on Sydney right away and she wore it for the rest of the party. Everyone thought it was so cute. I havent seen any patterns for baby shrugs so I just might have to write it down and share it. :)

Crochet, Away!

Carefree Days

I just finished this cardigan and shorts set for William. I am very pleased with how it came out. This is an 18 mos. size but the patterns goes up to a size 4T. The pattern called for a DK yarn, but I used Cotton Plus, which did make it a bit on the heavy side, but I figure an outfit like this is more sportswear than playware. The pattern is from the book, Crochet For Tots by Nancy Queen. Its a very easy pattern......in fact all the patterns in the book are very easy. Some might say boring, but I disagree. Such patterns lend themselves well to changing. You can use different stitch patterns, change the sizes of the sleeves and pants legs, use your imagination and make it your OWN creation.

Now its on to Sydney's outfit.....her birthday is approaching.

Crochet, Away!

The Crochet Liberation Front Patch

This is my latest project. I volunteered to test the pattern for this patch for Share....she designed it for inclusion in the new Crochet Liberation Front crochet pattern book, which will be offered for sale later this year. I am hoping her pattern makes the cut. I really liked it and that was the main reason I volunteered to test the pattern for her. If you are on Ravelry, you can join the Crochet Liberation Front Forum or if you dont belong to Ravelry, you can check out the CLF blog.

This was really my first foray into anything remotely resembling Tapestry Crochet. Its not tapestry, as the back and the front arent identical. but keeping track of the different colors and picking them up and letting them down correctly took time to master....and using thread and tiny hooks made it even more challenging. After a few messed up tries, I finally got the hang of it. Oh, and the patch isnt narrower at the bottom...thats my lousy camera work. Its an even rectangle :)

Now I just have to figure out where I want to put the patch. I am going to use Heat Bond to adhere it to whatever I finally decide to put it on. A jacket, maybe? Or a project bag? Where ever I put it, though, its going to look cool! Many thanks to Share for giving me the pattern and the opportunity to make this great patch!

On to other things now....

Crochet, Away!