D is for "Discovery"

Welcome to my fourth post in the ABC meme.  To see more of these please visit here!!

I am a day late getting this posted but inspiration about what to blog about hit me lesterday late in the afteroon.  D is for the "Discovery" of a new hobby (or two)!!  Letter-boxing and geo-caching.  Now I know these are not new to many people but hubby and I checked it out for the first time yesterday afternoon!  What fun!!  I had heard of geo-caching and have wanted to try it for quite some time, but letter-boxing was entirely new to me!  We located our very first letterbox but we don't have a notebook or stamp yet so we just read through the other entries and put it back in it's hiding place.  We will go back and enter our stamp into the logbook and stamp our book once we get our kit together.  We also located our first geo-cache yesterday too.  What fun!!  I think I prefer the letter-boxing but they both are fun! Plus it makes me get some exercise so that is a bonus!!

WIP-it Wednesday (May 25th 2011)

I am late today in posting my WIP-it Wednesday report.  I managed to get some work done on my ATW this week - I added 32 quares to the afghan and made another 27.  Not as much as I would have liked but progress is progress.  I also completed sock number one for my H is for "Hug me" socks.  I need to finish sock number two this week so I can free up the needles for another pair of socks :)

My other major Work in Progress that I plan to report here weekly is not of the crafty sort but a WIP nevertheless.  I NEED to lose some weight!  I am at my highest weight ever and am not happy with that (although I do love my food and am lazy - not a good mathematical equation there folks!)  I need to lose something in the order of 100 pounds (yikes!! Did I really admit that out loud???)  le sigh...  So each Wednesday I will report how much weight I managed to get rid of since the previous Wednesday.  Next week June 1st will be my first report to everyone who cares to follow me.  I welcome all sorts of words of encouragement and support.  I also welcome ideas, suggestions, motivators, recipes, and anything else you can think of (kicks to the rear will also help).  I will appreciate any encouragement provided :)  Anyone else care to join me???  I also need to add in more exercise.  I used to do well with that but have become lazy...  I know I'll feel better if I just get moving, but...  Here's to a good WIP report next week!!

To see more posts like this please go on over to tami's amis

Creativity continued

After my post yesterday about creativity I have taken the plunge and am wokring on my very first sock design! Thanks for the encouragement!! More details to come!

C is for "Creativity"

Welcome to my third post in the ABC meme.  To see more of these please visit here!

This week I want to consider creativity.  First off I need to thank all of the great designers who create the patterns that we all dearly love!! 

I would like to try my hand at designing one day.  My latest passion is socks and I am considering some ideas for sock designs.  Maybe something lacey or with cables or both!  Maybe what I should do is sit down, shut up, and try!  I also like making scarves and that is something else I have thought about designing.  Maybe one day!!

Off to read other blogs for C :)

FO Friday (May 20th 2011)

Holy smokeronis!!! I have a finished object (FO) to report this week!  My first time participating in tami's amis group!!  Please go and check out other FOs over there!

So my hubby graduated with his Master of Divinity on May 11th so I bought him an iPod Touch for a gift.  He asked if I would make him a little cover for it.  Who could so no??  So I poked around for patterns on Rav and found this one that I thought was cute (not too cute though since it is for a dude).

Pattern: iPod Touch Sockum

Started: May 15th 2011

Finished: May 18th 2011 (it likely only took a few hours to make)

Needles: 2.5mm Addi's

Yarn: Leftover Berroco Sock yarn (used a very small amount)

Modifications: I didn't pay attention to the pattern and forgot to do a few rows of decreases at the end.  Still works though!

Wip-it Wednesday (May 18th 2011)

I haven't posted a WIP-it Wednesday update lately and thought it was time.

My current project that I need to focus on now is my Around the World afghan that I am making for a friend to give his wife for her birthday in the beginning of August.  I have made quite a bit of progress on it but it still needs a lot of work (and I would like to get more done now while it is cooler than in July...)  Right now I estimate that I am about 25% complete!  Currently I have 281 squares sewn together, 32 squares waiting to be sewn on, and 912 squares left to be crocheted and sewn on! 

Here is the picture of where I am now:

Soon it is going to get more difficult to get pictures of this!  This is on a double size bed and is being made for a queen size bed. 

To see more posts like this please go on over to tami's amis

B is for "Baby Nine Blocks"

To see more of these please visit here
Today I will continue on my itty-bitty granny square theme :)  I really do enjoy making these!  I modified the following pattern and made it a bit bigger.  I have made several and have given them all away as baby shower gifts.  Here is the gallery:

These were all made with Red Heart Super Saver or Caron Pounders.  Hope you enjoyed viewing them :)

WIP-it Week - Saturday

I got a lot done on my Around the World yesterday.  I added 37 squares to the afghan and I made 31 squares.  I need to pick it up on this afghan as it needs to be finished by late July. 

Today I plan to work on my socks and also will continue with the Around the World. This past week has been great for getting a lot done on all my WIPs!! Now I think I will focus mostly on the Around the World so that I can get it done before it gets too warm out!

I also think I will tackle organizing my craft bookshelf today!  I'll post some before and after pictures once I get that done!

WIP-it Week - Friday

Yesterday I managed to complete one Learn to Knit Square. It is square number 54:

Today I plan to work on my Around the World Afghan.  I have a total of 194 squares already sewn together and twenty more squares ready to attach.  Let's see how many I can crochet and sew on today!!  Here is my before picture:

WIP-it Week - Thursday

I'll try posting this again as yesterday's post is gone after the updgrade...

I finished up the 12 inch BAMCAL square:

and four 6 inch BAMCAL filler squares:

I also got some progress done on the 5th Day of Christmas:

Today I will spend some time working on my Learn To Knit Afghan.

WIP-it Week - Wednesday

Yesterday I made some decent progress on my Sojourn Falls scarf.  I took it from 4 six row repeats complete to 13 six row repeats complete.  And I have decided that I like using the dental floss method to add the beads!  I think I am finally getting the hang of adding the beads!!  Here is my progress picture:

Up today is a collection of squares.  First up is to make four 6 inch BAMCAL (Block a Month Crochet Along) squares and one 12 inch BAMCAL square.  Then I need to work on my May (five golden rings) 12 Days of Christmas square. Once those are done and sewn onto their respective afghans I will get some work done on some pet snuggles. The only before pictures I have are of the 12 Days square:

and the current pet snuggle:

WIP-it Week - Tuesday

I managed to get a fair bit done on my Spring Leaves Scarf yesterday.  I finished another 36 row repeat and am over one third of the way through the next repeat.  It actually looks like I made some serious progress!  Here is an updated picutre:

Today's focus is on my Sojourn Falls Scarf.  Currently I have four 6 row repeats complete and it is about 4.5 inches long.  I have some dental floss and will try that technique for adding the beads to the knitting.  Let's see which I prefer - the dental floss or little crochet hook method!  Here is where I am at the beginning of the day:

WIP-it Week - Monday

I got a fair bit done on Mindless yesterday.  It is now up to almost 12 inches and here is an updated picture:

Today I will be focusing on my Spring Leaves Scarf.  Here is where I am this morning:

I have one full 36 row repeat complete.  Let's see how much I can finish on this one today!

A is for "Around the World Quiltghans"

Today I am embarking on a new meme - every Monday will be a post that begins with another letter of the alphabet and there is a group of us taking part in this adventure.  Check out everyone elses posts over here!!

For me - A is for "Around the World Quiltghans"  This is a great afghan (in my opinion!!)  The pattern can be found here.  I have made several of them.  They are also an example of acrylic awesomeness!!!  All of the afghans pictured below are made with Red Heart Super Saver :)

Here is the gallery:

These all involve a HUGE number of little granny squares!  Each granny square is about 2.5 inches and there are a total of 2948 squares used to make these four afghans (and I am currently making another one which will have 1225 squares)  That makes for a TON of tails to tuck in!!  But I love making these :)

Hope you enjoyed :)

WIP-it Week - Sunday

Good morning and Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!!

I made some nice progress on my two pair of socks yesterday.

I got a decent start on I is for I Shall Name them George socks:

and I turned the heel and have some of the gusset done on my H is for Hug Me socks:

Today on the WIP-it down list is my Mindless Afghan:

and a close-up of Mindless (it is at 10 inches right now):

Vacation!

So the school semester is over and I am in need of some time off to recharge.  It has been a stressful last few weeks...  So my plans are simple: craft the days away :)  I have planned out one project to focus on each day and I will post my progress from each day here.  Here is the plan:

Saturday -- Socks
Sunday -- Mindless
Monday -- Spring Leaves scarf
Tuesday -- Sojourn Falls scarf
Wednesday -- BAMCAL, 12 Days, Pet snuggles
Thursday -- LTK
Friday -- Around the World
I will post some before and after pictures for each day to track my progress.  This is going to be a fun week :)

Today is socks!  I am nearly done the heel flap on my H is for Hug Me socks:

and have barely started my I is for I Shall Name them George socks:

Tomorrow morning I shall post an updated picutre!

Let the fun begin (after I get some tea and breakfast into me)

Busy, busy, busy...

Long time no post here...  It is the busy time of the school year here and I have not had a lot of extra time to devote to my blog.  This morning my stuents write their final exam and I hope to get all the grading complete today!!  Then I am on to research for the summer (after a week off to relax!)  Hopefully I have more time to blog and craft!