it’s been a VERY long time and some changes have been made…

Posted on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 by jen / Posted in crochet / Leave a comment

Howdy friends.

I have been away for a very long time. I have no excuse really except work got busy, life got busy, blog fell to the wayside. I’m so sorry.

Honestly since the flickr plugin I had on the site quit working, it was a pain to post up pictures and everything. So it was more of a “job” than a fun thing to do. and I always feel guilty about my laziness. Modern conveniences make for First World problems. 🙂 hahaha.

Some changes have been made on the blog b/c the theme i used previously was no longer offered and caused alot of errors on the site. My host actually took the site down for a few weeks b/c of that reason. I finally got it all fixed, but because of that, some of the things I had on here previously were wiped out. GRRR.

Lots has happened in the last 18 months since I last updated. nothing TOO exciting like a wedding (for myself) or a baby (for myself). I did buy a new house in February 2014 and it has been a process trying to renovate the house before I can move in. The flooring had to be all changed out and the master bathroom has to be completely redone. So i’m just now waiting for the bathroom to be started and completed and I can start moving in. 🙂

Lots of CROCHETING has been going on here and not so much knitting. I haven’t completely gone over to the dark side 🙂 the items I have been making lately are all easier done in crochet so I’ve just been doing all that. I think if I put a list of all the projects i’ve done in the last 18 months, i might break something. I thought it wasn’t that much, but now that i’m looking over my files and stuff, i do realize it’s been quite a bit of things. let’s see…about 52 projects started and completed. yikes.

I’ll just post a pic of a few of them and I guess we can go on from there.

I’m sure i’ve lost all my friends with my long absence and for that I’m pretty sad. 🙁

a few things from the last 18 months…

DFW Fiber Fest was this past weekend and OMG! I had a BLAST!!!

I took 4 classes and i learned alot from each one! And i spent way too much money this year. I can’t wait until next year. hahahahha

I took Stop turning: knitting and purling backwards, 2 color double knitting, Knitting russian continental, and Japanese Crochet motifs. Great teachers, great material. Loved it. i didn’t want it all to end! 🙂

I’ll be bringing back Thursday Purse-Day as well. I’ve built up my collection of stuff again enough though forever ago I swore I wouldn’t buy anymore bags. Yeah.. i seem to have forgotten all about that 😀

WOw it’s been a long time.

Posted on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 by jen / Posted in baby knits, crochet, Knitting, photos, Simpatico / Leave a comment

Don’t die of shock, everyone 🙂 This is really me blogging for once. I’m sorry I’ve been so rude lately.

My excuse for not blogging at all these last few months….i’ve been working like a mad dog these last few months. I got a ton of new responsibilities at work and OMG…it cuts into knitting time. So freaking horrible. But I gotta eat and buy yarn right? hahaah. I’m happy to have more responsibility at work. But I realize I’m at the point where I don’t want MORE. For now I’m happy w/ my level of work. And I’m starting to realize that maybe I am not a super woman and can’t be at 3 places at once. It’s one thing to be boss…but be boss AND employee is not smart.

I had some free time tonight. Well, that is a lie. I have a pile of work I need to do and a crap load of projects I want to start/finish. But I felt like blogging for some reason. I dont’ know why. It’s been so long, I think everyone has dropped me from their bloglines/google reader. 🙂

Alot has happened over the last few months. Where do I even start? Umm…I had to buy a new car in July. The old Element kind of crapped out. I miss the big E. My dad took it and fixed it up so he could use it. He’s had his eye on it since the first time he rode around in it. He loves that car now and that makes me happy. I ended up buying a new Kia Soul. I love the car. it’s so cute and zippy. I miss the trunk space in the E though. But you know…the lack of space is good. B/c i was filling it up w/ junk as I rode around. So sad. When I cleaned it out, i was freaking shocked at how much I had IN it. No wonder my gas mileage was getting so poor. hahaha.

say hello to the Kia SOUUUUUUL train 🙂

I’ve been spending more time crocheting rather than knitting. Why…i don’t know why. 🙁 I’ve been in a crochet state of mind lately. I have managed to finish a few projects. hehe.

I did make submissions to the State Fair of Texas this year as I usually do. I didn’t even know what i was going to submit until about 1-2 months prior. The due date was at the end of July to submit categories and our money. Then in mid-August, I dropped off my items. I got my results Labor Day weekend. Guess what? I got a blue ribbon for the crochet/knit toy category! Well, there are 2 seperate categories. So I submitted two dolls and the 2nd doll got Honorable Mention. That is 4th place and it gets shown at the fair! WHEEE!!

This little dude got the Honorable Mention. He’s not my best work. He’s a bit larger than I expected. And I sewed on his head a little crooked. hahaaha.

Project: My free Hobbes pattern
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: black/orange/white
Hook Size: G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Jun 21, 2012
Date Finished: July 25, 2012

So this little guy got the blue ribbon. Isn’t he CUTE???? the pattern is very well written and she has many other patterns that are similar, but different animals. they are SO cute. I plan on making them all. 🙂

Project: “DIRK” – Doll Project No. VI – Dragon, Dinosaur
Yarn: Serenity Sock Weight and Stardust
Amount Used: a whole skein of the stardust in brownish. bits of the others
Color: Beige (Serenity) , Brown and purple (Stardust)
Hook Size: G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Aug 2, 2012
Date Finished: Aug 19, 2012

I went to the MadTosh store Ravelry ice cream social a couple of months ago. It was so much fun. While we (me, Kathy, Debbie, Mary), we couldn’t stop throwing skeins of yarn into our baskets like mad women. Kathy had her eye on some beautiful yarn. I bought it so I could give it to her for her bday, but she saw me. So i made up some lie about how I was going to hold it for her and then give it to her later whenever she could give me money for the skeins. I made her some fingerless mitts for her bday and gave her one skein and the remainder of the skein i used to make her mitts. 🙂 The pattern used was written by my good friend, Botgurl 🙂

She was squealing when I gave them to her.

Project: One Koigu Mitts
Yarn: tosh sock
Amount Used: 1/2 skein
Color: Victory Garden
Needle Size: US 1 (2.25 mm)
Date Started: Jul 8, 2012
Date Finished: Jul 22, 2012

I made a hat for fellow knitter Monica’s new grandson Joel. He is her first grandson and will definetly be spoiled like a little prince. SO I had to make him a little crown hat.

The colors are insane. But i thought they complimented each other. 🙂 the Boy saw the orange on my desk one day and he asked “did something throw this up on your desk?” hilarious 🙂

Project: Fit for a King or Queen Crown Newborn
Yarn: Caribbean
Amount Used: bits of each skein. they are huge skeins
Color: orange/green/blue
Hook Size: G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Aug 19, 2012
Date Finished: Aug 26, 2012

i promised my cousin gifts for her two kids and they live far away. her son is almost 1 now. I’m a horrible cousin. But i need to send her daughter her ballerina!! I made a hat for her little brother, but he needed a bit more. So I made him this monkey blanket buddy 🙂 I need to put this in the mail before i forget for a few months. sheesh. He came out so cute!

Project: Monkey Security Blanket
Yarn: Caribbean / I Love This Cotton! Solids
Amount Used: bits of each skein. they are huge skeins
Color: Green (caribbean) / brown (iltc)
Hook Size: G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Sept 11, 2012
Date Finished: Sept 19, 2012

I know why i felt like blogging today. I met the Yarn Harlot today….and she is a master blogger. hahaa. I got inspired! She was wonderful. She gave a great talk and was hilarious. and she was so sweet. She signed my book and took pictures with me and my buddies. 🙂 it’s funny. everyone kept saying “omg she’s so short..how are we going to be able to see her?” shoot…I’m SHORTER than her!! AAAH! no wonder ppl make fun of me all the time!

Thanks for being so awesome, Stephanie! I had a blast!

I”ll try to be good and post more often so I dont post such img-heavy posts. 🙂 Thanks for sticking with me. 🙂 I love you guys.

Happy blogiversary to meeeeee!

Posted on Monday, July 9, 2012 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting, Life / Leave a comment

HEY! I just realized my Blogiversary just passed!!!

Happy blogiversary to meeeee!!

I’ll be back with a real update this week. I just came to the realization today and had to put something up! lol

It is a Tuesday :)

Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2012Tuesday, June 12, 2012 by jen / Posted in Chewy, crochet, Knitting / 2 Comments

I’m going to stop lying and saying I’m going to blog more often. How about, I will try more often than ONCE A MONTH! aaargh! 🙂

One reason why blogging has become a hassle is b/c I stupidly updated my version of wordpress b/c I wanted fancy fonts. i’m a font whore. lol.

but in that process, I lost my ability to just add pics from flickr w/ the flickr plugin. the old plug in isn’t compatible w/ the new version of wordpress and the guy who wrote the original plug in is MIA or just abandoned it. So no updates and NO NEW plug ins that were as awesome as that one was. SOOOO….it’s a pain to reference pics and insert them into the blog. stupid eh? The little things that make life so good…when they go missing or just stop working, it’s like everything just …stops. Oh well.

What has everyone been up to? It seems like my old friends that followed my blog have stopped blogging and etc. like blogging is old hat? Everyone is on facebook or twitter…which is good in a way, yet very annoying. not sure when facebook became THE internet. twitter is extremely annoying now. But for some reason, i’ve seen an insurgence in blogging again. i guess the convenience of updating everyone w/ 140 characters isn’t so convenient anymore.

blah blah blah. 🙂

I’ve been pretty productive lately. not 100%. but not bad. 🙂 hahah.

Chewy’s birthday was on June 1st. That isn’t a FOR SURE. but whenever he was found, it was the last week of July and I took him to the vet the first week of August and the vet said he was 8 weeks old. So on his paperwork, his bday is listed at June 1st.

my sweet little baby!!

: Remember this widdle face???

I miss his little bitty self. 🙂

Sleeping on the boy's legs

Now look at him…he’s such a big boy.

yup…he's licking the wine bottle. i've got an alcoholic cat.

I won’t bore you guys w/ a ton of pics. I could SOOOO easily do so. But I will share a pic w/ you that cracks up most ppl. 🙂

I made Chewy a bday hat. yeah…there is a pattern for one! FOR CATS! omg i was all over it. 🙂

Happy Birthday, Chewy!!

isn’t it the cutest hat?? LOL.

This is before i put it on him. lol

Project: Pet Birthday Party Hat
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: teal and green
Hook Size: F (3.75mm)
Date Started: May 31, 2012
Date Finished: May 31, 2012

I made a cute little ballerina for my cousin’s daughter. When I saw that she was in ballet classes now…i had to do it 😉

Helloo! Watch me dance! :)

Project: Brisa the Ballerina amigurumi pattern
Yarn: Snuggly DK / Golden Baby / Happy Feet
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: snuggly – pink / Golden baby – peach / happy feet – black
Hook Size: C (2.75mm)
Date Started: May 7, 2012
Date Finished: May 19, 2012

One of the cutest things about the ballerina is the bun on the head. It’s so stinking cute. and her hair/bun is what takes the longest on this doll. as you are doing it, you are kind of cursing. like WTF why do i have to do this for the HAIR???? but the end result gets alot of oohs and aahhhs 🙂

one of the girls at work discovered that i knit and crochet and she asked if she could pay me to make a hat and booties set for (eek i forget who now) her sister’s? new baby. Baseball fans. We looked thru some patterns and found a cute little hat w/ a baseball applique on the hat. 🙂

baseball hat and booties

Project: baseball beanie — Boy Striders 4 Sizes Crochet Baby Booties (pdf pattern for sale)
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: Teal
Hook Size: F (3.75mm) & G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: May 31, 2012
Date Finished: May 31, 2012

It’s amazing how fast I can crochet under pressure. 🙂 hahaah

I had some issues w/ the hat. mainly b/c i refused to do a gauge swatch and i kept feeling it was too small. I could have saved myself ALOT of trouble and just did the swatch and ta da? but nOOOO. super fast once I got it done. cute cute.

Since I was so paranoid about the hat being small…i made another hat just in case.

baseball beanie

Project: Baseball BUTTON Trimmed Diaper cover and Beanie
Yarn:Super Saver Solids
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: white, red, blue
Hook Size: I (5.5mm)
Date Started: May 31, 2012
Date Finished: May 31, 2012

One last FO and i’ll stop. LOL

My friend posted on facebook the other day his daughter’s prayer for the day:

“Dear God, thank you for everything, please keep us safe, and give me a unicorn.”-Sarah

I could NOT stop laughing at it. and of course…i HAD to make her a unicorn!

a prayer for a unicorn

Project: Luna the Unicorn
Yarn: Simply Soft Party
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: Sparkly white, sparkly fushia, silver
Hook Size: E (3.5mm)
Date Started: June 3, 2012
Date Finished: June 5, 2012

I thought at first the yarn would be TOO sparkly and trashy. nope. It was the perfect amount of bling. hahahaa. so stinking cute. 🙂

This is my 4th Luna unicorn and I always am amazed at the reactions it gets whenever i show it to ppl before i send it off to it’s rightful owner. ahahaha.

I guess that’s all for now. Again, thank you friends for sticking with me. I promise I’ll try to be a better blogger. 🙂

This is an odd sight…a Sunday post?

Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2012 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting / 1 Comment

Hello again my friends. I’m a bad blogger. Some of my friends blog every day. I can’t do it. I could do it once a week, but for some reason life has gotten in the way. Why do i even say that? I sound like I didn’t have any life before. But I thought I did? eh.

Thanks again for staying with me, friends.

Work has been keeping me pretty busy. Busy to the point where I’m thinking I need a real vacation soon. I’m supposed to take a trip up north w/ the parents and sibling again next month. But that isn’t a “vacation”. it’s where I have to take time off work to be tortured by my family. I love my family. But I don’t consider going out of town w/ them vacation anymore when my modern conveniences are taken away from me (Internet, cable, cell phone) and I am just there to serve as a chauffeur. I’d rather be at home doing nothing. hahaha. It’s free, i have tv, internet and cell phone. and my cat. and the boy. and i can do whatever I want and not have to answer to where I am going when I just want to run up to the store to get a coke! Sigh. anyway. Work has kept me busy. Boy has kept me busy. The Chewy has kept me busy. My house has kept me busy. hahaha.

I’ve been knitting but not knitting. Sometimes when I’m home i just dont feel like knitting, esp w/ a crazy cat running around me constantly attacking yarn. Speaking of…I woke up one morning and found my evil devil cat had savagely attacked a skein (or two) of STR! right in front of the bathroom. I had no idea what it was when I got up to pee (I can’t see w/o any glasses or contacts on). And when I finally put my glasses on..i started screaming. He just sat there…looking up at me so proud. I should have taken a picture, but I was too mad to do that. Sigh. He might have done it to get me back for what I did to him at Easter 🙂

Happy easter, Chewy!

For your ears only

Project: Pet Costume Bunny Rabbit Hat
Yarn: I Love This Cotton Spark
Amount Used: bits of a skein
Color: White and pink sparkle
Hook Size: G(4.0mm)
Date Started: April 8, 2012
Date Finished: April 8, 2012

So my friend that I made the Yoda hat for? hehe. She is addicted to Pinterest too and we’ve been going nuts looking at stuff online. She showed me a post where someone made some crochet red eggs for her baby. So she was kind of hinting around (I think) saying she wished she could crochet and had the time to make a bunch of eggs for her son’s red egg party. For those of you who aren’t Chinese and don’t know what a red egg party is…here is a GREAT weblink: http://www.littlebuddhababy.com/TraditionRedEggAndGingerParty.html. This will tell you all about it. 🙂 hahaha. They are a BIG deal w/ Chinese ppl. It’s a great party to celebrate your new child…and you get alot of money. 🙂 muahaha. So I took the bait. I said “How many do you need?” in my defense..i thought she was going to say “oh like 10? 20?” She told me she was having like 120-150 ppl at the party. I said no. I can’t make that many. So sorry. 🙂 Then she said “how about one per family?” I said “OK”. she needed 60! eek! hahahah.

it took me a while…but i got them all done. all in the nick of time. I had planned on doing alot of crocheting on a quick business trip that I took to my main office in FL, but i slept the whole flight coming and going. there went 6+ hours of crochet time. UGH. then I got a bit slack the week before. I like to stress myself out 🙂

Do you wanna see what 61 (one for mommy and baby) crocheted red eggs looks like?

Send forth my minions!!!

As presented at the party

Cute huh?

Project: Eggs
Yarn: Soft Touch
Amount Used: less than 2 skeins for all 61.
Color: RED – Duh. lol
Hook Size: F (3.75mm)
Date Started: March 8, 2012
Date Finished: March 29, 2012

I made a couple of trivets too for fun:

This is my trivet. :)

Auntie Pet's trivet

These were cute and fast to crochet. 🙂

Project: Aunt Aggie’s Trivets
Yarn: Sinfonia (mine) and Grace (Auntie Pet’s)
Amount Used: less than a skein each
Color: purple & creamsicle
Hook Size: D (3.25mm)
Date Started: April 5, 2012
Date Finished: April 5, 2012

Since I have to go to canada next month, I gotta step it up w/ my cousins’ babies’ gifts. 🙂

I’ve decided to simply and just make hats and booties for the 2 most recent additions.

Hat for Lucas

Lucas' hat on Zoe

Hat for Tristan

tristan's hat on Zoe

Project: my own improvised hat pattern.
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Superwash
Amount Used: 1/2 skein of the blue, 1 skein of the grey
Color: grey and blue
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Apr 17, 2012
Date Finished: Apr 26, 2012

Super fast, super simple. Believe it or not, the previous version I made of this hat back in 2008 is one of my most favorited items on Ravelry. Isn’t that weird? It’s just a simple baby hat w/ an initial duplicate stitched on the front.

I have to make one more of these w/ a D on the front and I’ll be done w/ the hats. 3 more weeks. 🙂 hahaha.

Thanks for keeping up w/ me, my friends. I really do appreciate every single one of you.

Hello my friends…

Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012Thursday, March 15, 2012 by jen / Posted in baby knits, Chewy, crochet, Knitting, Life, Purse-Day / Leave a comment

I have to apologize for my long absence from the blog world. it’s been like almost 2 months since I last blogged and I wouldn’t blame you if you dropped me like a hot potato and forgot about me.

On Chinese New Year, I was all WHOO HOO!!! this year is gonna be awesome!!! Well, poo. At the end of January and the entire month of February was a busy hard month for me mainly b/c the boy was really sick and stuck in the hospital for 2 weeks. I spent alot of time at the hospital (besides work time), and i spent alot of time at home being a nursemaid. he got a very bad bacterial infection and had alot of problems pop up after that. his little episodes here could have killed him. Even though I wasn’t the one that was sick, it was hard on me emotionally. Why is that? i’m not the one laid up in a bed w/ iv and O2 and abx and blah blah blah blah. heheh. but whatever. I guess the most upsetting thing is that he could have died and I don’t know how I could have handled such a loss. I don’t think I could function if something like that happens. But he’s better now which makes me better now too. 🙂

Anyway, if you are still here with me, thank you. 🙂 I made a bit of a change on the blog where I installed some fonts. I noticed everyone was getting all these fancy fonts on their blogs and i felt left out! lol.

With all this, I have managed to be knitting and crocheting. hahaah. And i’m totally hooked on Pinterest right now. so lame huh? I’ve been on there a while, but just in recent months w/ all the buzz, there is more stuff on there to look at and more of my friends are on there, so now it’s more interesting. bah. It’s another bad thing to be hooked on on the internet. Like there aren’t enough distractions already! hahaha. I’m mainly pinning FOOD and alcoholic drinks and desserts. I don’t drink…so why the drinks? b/c i’m stupid and it’s so easy to hit that repin button. LOL

What i got going on here? I finished that baby hat to w/ the cardigan and the baby shoes. The baby shower for the mom-to-be was on Feb 4th. Mommy was so surprised and happy to see she was getting the set. which is hilarious b/c she saw me knit on all the items and I kept telling her that I was making them for my cousin. tee-hee!

Project: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap / Djevellue
Yarn: Kroy Socks Stripes
Amount Used: 1/2 skeing\
Color: 55617 — or I call it…70′s chic.
Needle Size: US 2 (2.75 mm)
Date Started: Jan 24, 2012
Date Finished: Jan 26, 2012

Isn’t it CUTE??? I love the little red tip!! SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!

Are you guys into mason jars? I frakking love them. I love drinking out of them, storing things in them, etc. I especially love drinking out of them. Botgurl feels the same way I do. The boy told me on discovery channel, there is some show called Moonshiners where they sell their moonshine in mason jars. whoo hoo. haahah. anyway, Bot mentioned she would love a cozy for her mason jar and i whipped one out one night just to see how long it would take me. it didn’t even take me a few hours. very cute. I was going to dup. stitch some cute hilarious little design on the cozy, but it looked jacked up when i got half way thru, so i just took it all out. never mind. simple is best. 🙂

Project: Yogurt 101
Yarn: Wool Bam Boo
Amount Used: 1/2 a skein
Color: 1672 – dark green
Needle Size: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Date Started: Jan 25, 2012
Date Finished: Jan 25, 2012

I used the pattern above but adjusted the stitch count for the size of the jar and the yarn size. I could have made it a couple of rows longer, but i figured it was long enough? Bot said that the cozy got alot of buzz at her office. tee hee.

One of my favorite cousins had a baby back in …. oh geez. Sept. His wife asked if I would make a blanket for the new baby and stuff. I happily agreed. I made a blanket in time for me to take when i was there in october for my grandfather’s funeral, but i wasn’t happy w/ the blanket. So I didnt give it to them. I wasn’t able to see them anyway b/c of some Chinese superstitions… but honestly? I was unhappy w/ how the turquoise yarn shedded all over the freaking place when i washed the blanket. I couldn’t give them something that shedded that much. So i made a whole new blanket with super wash wool (they live in Canada…it’s cold up there) I finally finished it after deciding on which blanket to make. It’s late, but baby can always lay on top of it. 🙂

Project: Beth’s Little Star Afghan
Yarn: Classic Superwash
Amount Used: 2-3 skeins of each color
Color: grey / smoke blue
Hook Size: I (5.5mm)
Date Started: Feb 19, 2012
Date Finished: March 6, 2012

It didn’t take too long to make. i love crochet for blankets!! 🙂 Chewy liked the blanket alot. As I was taking pictures, he had to lay all over it. Isn’t he adorable? 🙂

To go w/ the blanket….a sweater. 🙂

Project: Rudyard baby sweater
Yarn: Classic Superwash
Amount Used: one skein of the grey / bits of the blue
Color: grey / smoke blue
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 29, 2012
Date Finished: Feb 13, 2012

I love the collar on this sweater. I made it for a 1 yr old child so that way baby can grow into it. sigh.

Among all the madness, my baby brother asked me for a batman hat. 🙂

I should have posed the ears better whenever I took the pics, but at the time I just didn’t care. My brother sent me a hilarious picture of him wearing the hat, but I’m not going to share it. 🙁 He would be mad at me if i did that w/o his permission. hahaah.

Project: Zsa Mask
Yarn: Lion Wool Solids
Amount Used: one skein
Color: black
Needle Size: US 9 (5.5 mm)
Date Started: Jan 30, 2012
Date Finished: Feb 9, 2012

made an adult size by casting on 80 sts
also knit in the round and kitchenered on top.
CO 80, eyes knit 9 BO 8, K 4, BO 8
also SC two rows ont he bottom to keep it from rolling so much.

I had childhood friend that had her baby back in Nov. I promised her a Yoda hat and sweater a long time ago and I never really made one for her. Then she said something in passing one day that made me feel bad that I never delivered on the Yoda hat. So I decided to start one one night and I was really shocked at the fact that I finished it in one night while catching up on tv shows. I amaze myself sometimes. LOL.

Project: Bear and Panda Hat and Mitts
Yarn: Soft Yarn Solids
Amount Used: one skein
Color: forest green
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Feb 14, 2012
Date Finished: Feb 14, 2012

I made the hat really large b/c baby is huge. That’s why on Zoe the hat looks ginormous and on the adult head it looks really small. hahaah. I did not stiffen the ears b/c I feel that that could possibly be toxic when the parents wash the hat. so i’d rather have them deal w/ floppy ears. 🙂

Another friend had a baby in December and I got the birth announcement the other day. So what does that mean? gotta bust out a gift. This is just one piece of her gift….for Miss Olivia. 🙂

Project: Crochet Amigurumi Flower (etsy page)
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: bits of each color
Color: light pink, pink, green
Hook Size: F (3.75mm)
Date Started: Feb 4, 2012
Date Finished: Feb 18, 2012

Cute huh? Just put a little bell inside and there is the perfect little rattle for a little girl’s hands. 🙂

I guess that’s all for now. haahah. Thanks again to all for sticking w/ me. I’ll be a better blogger this year, I promise. 🙂

Happy Thursday!

Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 by jen / Posted in baby knits, crochet, friends, Knitting, Life / 2 Comments

Hi everyone. Thanks for stopping by 🙂 I hope your week has been treating you well so far.

I do have a purse I want to show off…but I haven’t taken pictures of it yet. So you guys have to wait another week. 🙂 hahaha sorry folks. Slackness rules.

My knitting mojo really has come back w/ a vengeance. I’ve made up for the last few months when I hardly knit a thing. So i’ve got some FO’s to show off.

Project: Skinny Flats for Women and Kids
Yarn: Encore Worsted / Shimmer
Amount Used: bits of every skein
Color: grey / white ice
Hook Size: H (5.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 18, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 21, 2011

These were made for my co-worker’s daughter. She saw them on pinterest and she asked her mom if she knew anyone that crocheted. Actually, this is the same girl that got the baylor bear headwarmer last week.

Cute shoes eh? I like how the mannequin feet show off the little shoes. 🙂

Project: Yoda Hat
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: about 1/3 of a skein? maybe half?
Color: dark Green
Needle Size: US 2.5 (3.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 14, 2012
Date Finished: Jan 22, 2012

Made to go w/ the Yoda sweater shown last week. The baby set is complete for grandma to give at her shower. I did not put stiffner in the ears as directed by the pattern b/c I had none…and i was scared the stiffner would wash out if they washed the hat. I felt they were stiff enough. (Snort…i said STIFF).

Project: Puerperium Cardigan
Yarn: Kroy Socks Stripes
Amount Used: 1 full skein.
Color: 55617 — or I call it…70’s chic. 🙂
Needle Size: US 6 (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 14, 2012
Date Finished: Jan 22, 2012

This was inspired by Yarn Harlot’s post a few months ago. I had to make one. I found some adorable sock yarn and had do make it. It’s super cute. People squee when they see it. 🙂

Matching booties anyone?

Project: Baby Boots
Yarn: Kroy Socks Stripes
Amount Used: 2/3 of one skein
Color: 55617 — or I call it…70’s chic. 🙂
Needle Size: US 1 (2.25 mm)
Date Started: Jan 22, 2012
Date Finished: Jan 23, 2012

these were made to match the Puerperium Cardigan above. I did not have to pull any extra yarn to make these booties match. That was PURE luck. Awesome luck. 🙂 hahaha. Super cute. These are knit flat and then seamed up. I started off w/ the ones you do in the round, but I HATE purling in the round. and I love the ribbed cuff. So I switched. 🙂

And to go w/ the Jughead hat….

Project: Little Button Loafers (baby booties)
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: bits of every skein
Color: Turquoise/ lime green
Hook Size: E (3.5 mm)
Date Started: Jan 23, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 23, 2011

That couple’s gift is done. That monkey is off my back. 🙂 hahahaha.

I think that’s all for now. Not much is going on in my life except for work and knitting. It’s weird..i knit/crochet so much this week that my hands were actually hurting on Tues. I had to give myself a little break….less intensity.

I’m in the middle of a hat to match the 70’s stripey cardigan and booties. I hope to give the complete set soon.

I found out that one of my cousin’s had a baby in December and another one is due any day now. EVERYONE IS HAVING A BABY…or getting married. ugh. Everyone needs to slow down on the breeding…for Purse-Ho’s sake please 🙂 hahaha.

I hope everyone has a good weekend this weekend. Thanks for stopping by 🙂 Take care and be safe!

Thursday, No purse-day!

Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2012 by jen / Posted in baby knits, Chewy, crochet, friends, Knitting, Simpatico / 1 Comment

Hello friends! 🙂

happy thursday to you all. I’m going to try to get back in the swing of posting at least once a week. “try”. at least every other week for sure.

No purse today. I haven’t bought a purse in a while and I don’t feel like digging for one I haven’t shown off yet. I know i have quite a few…i’m just being a bit lazy.

The new year is going ok so far. Not fantastic…not bad. I did have alot of friends that got engaged on New Year’s Eve. is it me, or is that really cliche? hahahaha. i kept getting txt msgs all night long “WE’RE ENGAGED!” blech! i’m happy for them, but blech. hahahaha. Do I sound like a bitter crone yet? 🙂

My knitting/crochet mojo has come back with a vengeance. I’ve been working non-stop on things that i either have a deadline for, or just feel like making RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT.

But anyway, i have some things to show off, so I will. 🙂

First off…this is the final Yoda sweater. Well, final for a while. I really don’t want to make another one for a while.

Project: seamless baby and toddler wrap
Yarn: Sweet Delight Baby
Amount Used: a little more than half a skein
Color: Teddy
Needle Size: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Date Started: Dec 22, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 7, 2012

On the inside is dup. stitched “Beware of the darkside, Logan”

Baby’s name is going to be Logan. Parents are HUGE Star Wars fanatics. I was asked (begged) by the grandma if I could find it in my heart to make a new one. Grandma is my very special friend Kathy…so I made another one. I was sick of dup. stitching “May the force be with you”. i feel like a factory worker sometimes when you do something so often. 🙂 I am supposed to make another one, but i’m not feeling the love. I was really hoping to make a pink one for a girl, but alas…that did not happen. the stinky baby is a boy. hahah.

Working on a Yoda hat for the outfit as well. it has to be ready in a few weeks for a baby shower!

Some of my Simpatico friends and I hang out at Barnes and Noble twice a week. We’ve gotten very friendly w/ the cafe girl and she is pregnant! Actually, she’s delivering her baby today! We all decided to make her a bunch of things … washcloths, hats, bibs, etc and give her a big bag of goodies. Well, I put a pink dress and some pink hats in there. I did not finish my bib in time. But i finished it after. hahaha. it’s such a cute bib, i’ll just put it in the baby shower stash.

Project: Crochet Monkey Bib Pattern PDF
Yarn: I Love This Cotton! Solids
Amount Used: bits of every skein
Color: baby pink, brown, tan,
Hook Size: H (5.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 7, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 7, 2011

I did this while watching Star Trek Insurrection again. 🙂 hahahaah. I had to throw the bib on Chewy b/c he was getting in my way while I was trying to take pictures. You be a pest? I throw it on you and take pics! he sat there for a min and then kind of shrugged off the bib. and then he kind of jumped on top of it. I had to take it away at that point. stupid cute widdle evil cat.

Project: Fit for a King or Queen Crown 3-4 yrs
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids, Red Heart Shimmer
Amount Used: 2/3 a skein
Color: turquoise, lime green, white sparkle (redheart)
Hook Size: I (5.5 mm)
Date Started: Jan 9, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 9, 2011

I made this for my brother’s friend. The baby was born in August and apparently he’s a big boy. So i was asked to make it larger. I made the baby’s big sister a sweater and shoes when she was born. I have made nothing for this child and I started to feel guilty. When my brother and I were discussing hats…he said “JUGHEAD HAT!” I finished it so fast I amazed even myself. LOL. working on picking out some shoes to make to match the hat.

I’m really digging the lime green and turquoise + white combination right now. Which will explain the next project…

Project: Lace-Edged Cardigan
Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids, Cascade Venezia Worsted
Amount Used: eh….some of each skein?
Color: Bright teal (Cascade), Lime green, white (hobby lobby)
Needle Size: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Date Started: Oct 22, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 12, 2011

I made this sweater for my cousin’s baby. I was going to send it…but I never really finished it. I finished knitting it, but I needed to weave ends in and block…and I never got around to it until Jan 12.

Instead of the lace as required by the pattern, I did an i-cord edging w/ NO buttonholes. I did the edging around the neck, front and sleeves. And instead of two colors, I striped 3 colors (Obviously!).

Project: Violet Women’s House Slipper
Yarn: Hushabye Solid / Hushabye Ombre
Amount Used: 2/3 a skein
Color: pinkbrown camo / brown
Hook Size: G (4.0 mm)
Date Started: Jan 12, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 12, 2011

I made these for my friend Auntie Pet b/c back in October when my grandpa died, she did me a favor and hooked me up w/ some plane tickets. she saved me a whole lot a money. This is just a small token of what I could give her to thank her. I had tried to make FOUR diff. pairs of slippers I knew she loved! FOUR! and all of them were a big fail! UGH! I was so mad! then I saw she put these slippers up on her pinterest board as something she wanted, so i grabbed the pattern and whipped them up. 🙂 I Hope she likes them. I made her try them on last week and i told her they were for my mom and she kind of ooh’d and aah’d. 🙂 Purse.Ho is pleased. 🙂

I made the button that is on the shoes rather than trying to hunt down a 1.5″ button. (I was stuck at work and trying to finish them up!), so I had this button pattern from another pattern. It’s super easy and great since the button doesn’t serve a function..just a decorative purpose.

Project: Knit Earwarmer with Crochet flower
Yarn: Soft Yarn Solids / Vanna’s Choice Solids / Red Heart Shimmer
Amount Used: bits of all skeins
Color: Dark Leaf / mustard / white ice
Needle Size: US 8 (5.0mm)
Date Started: Jan 17, 2011
Date Finished: Jan 17, 2011

This was a super fast knit. My friend at work was asking if I could create something for her daughter to wear while she was riding her scooter around on Campus. and she’s a Baylor Bear. So i whipped one up for her! The flower is a flower I used from a crochet pattern (I cant remember which one at this moment) rather than the flower that is in the pattern. That one wasnt to my liking and I wanted to make the flower diff. colors. so ta-da! i threw in the daisy button b/c i like buttons and i like daisies. 🙂

whew. that’s all folks. I guess i’ve been busy the last couple of weeks. 🙂 I Hope you guys are having a great week/ month so far. WHile at work today, when i was writing down “1/19/12” ….i thought…omg…it’s already past the half month mark! I really wish time didn’t fly by as fast as it did.

have a great weekend everyone 🙂

It’s not a Thursday, but the holidays are over and it’s a new year. :)

Posted on Saturday, January 7, 2012Saturday, January 7, 2012 by jen / Posted in baby knits, Chewy, crochet / Leave a comment

helllo friends. I hope you all had a happpy happy holiday. I had a pretty ok one. I’ve found that the older I get, the grinch-ier I get. I did manage to go home for a few days and surprise my parents. They didn’t know i was coming home, so I was successful in scaring the crap out of them. 😀 hahaah. hilairousss

New Years was uneventful, spent at home working — of all things. I’ve gotten very paranoid in my old age and I’m scared of all the drunks on the road. So I happily stayed home. 🙂 Speaking of New Years day…i saw the movie a few weeks ago. Do not see it. it’s awwwwwful. The only good thing in it is Josh Dumael and that hot little boy Zac Efron. that’s it. hahaah. and they could have just sat there and not said a word I would have been very happy. 🙂 oh yeah. they needed to get naked too. haahah.

anyway, I’m glad the holidays are over. I hate how everything gets so disrupted b/c of the holidays: work, sleep, eating, weight, my pants not fitting b/c of all the eating I do, all my coverage issues at work, etc. bah! I need to take a vacation that isn’t related to family work or holidays.

Usually my first post of the year contains all my resolutions and things I hope to accomplish in the year ahead. I’m not doing that this year. Last year I “failed” so miserably at my major goals (lose more weight, eat better, etc). Actually wait…when I look at my list from last year, it was just of things I wanted to do rather than “resolutions”. hahah

here is the list from last year… i’m going to cross off the things I accomplished:

be a better me
quit eating junk – candy / froyo / cake i’m talking to you.
cook more at home
be more creative w/ cooking
eat at least 2 servings of vegetables at every meal
eat less cow (UGH..i eat MORE cow than I did before! WTF?)
do more cardio than I have been doing
~~clean out the garage (COMPLETELY)~~ I can fit 2 cars in there now. 🙂
knit less for people who don’t appreciate
knit more for me / loved ones
~~be less catty~~
work smarter, not harder
~~don’t mindlessly shop, shop smart~~
~~be more thrifty when making purchases~~
~~be more thankful for what I have~~
~~think less about all the things I want~~
be a meaner/rigid boss at work
~~scan and reorganize old family photos~~ – I did alot of this, but not completely done…
~~throw away/donate things I don’t need anymore~~
make at least one knit item for an unknown stranger / charity
~~think about remodeling my bathroom~~ DONE!!! WHEEE!
~~visit my family sometime soon~~
don’t let stupid things piss me off when it’s all beyond my control
~~start eliminating bad obsessive habits~~
be a better friend to my friends

Hmm….11 out of 25. not bad! 😀

I think posting a list of things I’m thankful for might do the trick right now. 🙂

my family .. they drive me nuts but I love them so much.
my friends .. my family away from my family.
I am employed…hallejuah!
I managed to save quite a bit of money this year. yay!
the boy….I think I love him too much. 🙂
my home … I have a home. 🙂
I found a new kitty this year…Chewy 🙂 he’s been a great sweet little blessing in my life this year.
my sanity. I am surprised it’s still around. 🙂

No purse yet for this year. I’ll post one next time. I do have some FO’s to show off.

Project: Angel Wings Pinafore
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: 2/3 a skein
Color: baby pink
Hook Size: F (3.75mm)
Date Started: Dec 18, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 19, 2011

this was a really easy and simple little dress. I can’t wait to make ANOTHER one. 🙂

Project: Fisherman’s Rib Gaiter
Yarn: Bernat Roving
Amount Used: eh….some of each skein?
Color: burgundy / Charcoal grey
Needle Size: US 11 (8.0 mm)
Date Started: Dec 24, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 24, 2011

I felt like making a cowl and my brother is fancy enough to be able to wear one of these while wearing his peacoat w/o looking like a dandy. 🙂 I didn’t have enough grey (i knew this ahead of time) but he loves it when i put in little stripes here and there in things I make for him, so i knew he would like the burgundy stripings.

that’s all for now folks. Thanks for stopping by and Happy new year! I’m waiting for 2012 to be a great awesome year. 🙂 May we all give and receive as much love and happiness that we deserve. 🙂

Hello everyone. :)

Posted on Thursday, December 15, 2011 by jen / Posted in baby knits, crochet, Knitting, Purse-Day / 1 Comment

Hello everyone. I have no purse to show off today. Mainly b/c i’m lazy and don’t want to go thru what i have or take any photos.

I’ve been so stressed out w/ various things here this week. So stressed out that I just finally kind of broke down to let some of the frustrations out. It just seemed that everything that could go wrong this week went wrong. and even though I don’t do the Christmas gift thing…I don’t stress myself out w/ shopping for ppl that can buy their own dang presents… i found that i spent alot of money on myself this month. I got a little greedy. and right when I do, I start having other issues that require money: car, house, etc. then i start thinking: Omg. i shouldnt’ have been so greedy w/ the self-shopping earlier in the month. This is really the only time of year i go nuts buying myself stuff b/c all these Christmas sales and deals and packages..it’s all pretty irresistible and I don’t normally get alot of gifts from other people…so Merry Christmas to me. 🙂 hahahaah. but now i’m like eesh. I should have slowed down at the beginning of the month to see what these few weeks would bring me.

Anyway. I’ve got some FO’s to show off. 🙂

I went to a baby shower on Sat and I was crocheting up to the night before. tee hee.

I didn’t make that much for this baby like i usually do. But oh well. I made some things. I guess that’s good enough for now. 🙂 lucky for me I hit up my baby shower stash (YES! I have a baby shower stash! i go to alot of freaking baby showers!) and was able to pick out ALOT of cute stuff for the shower w/o me having to do any major shopping. 😀 Wheee!!

Project: Katrina Ribbon Cloche
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: various bits of skeins
Color: pink, brown, cream
Hook Size: H (5.0mm)
Date Started: Dec 8, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 8, 2011

After I took the pics, I retied the bow. I’m out of practice w/ tying the perfect bow. But i thought the ribbon was a cute addition to the hat. So Jaunty! 🙂

Project: Baby Cowboy Boots Pattern “Baby Boot Scoot’n Boots”
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: various bits of skeins
Color: pink, brown, cream
Hook Size: E (3.5 mm)
Date Started: Dec 9, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 9, 2011

Aren’t these CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE???? THey were SOOO fun to make!!! 🙂 When some of my friends saw these booties, they said “HEY! they match the ones YOU have!”

I guess they do. I should have made a matching cowboy hat, but no time. Next time. 🙂 heheehe.

I made myself a puffy stitch hat too!

Project: Puff Stitch Earflap Beanie Hat
Yarn: Mosaic & Roving
Amount Used: one skein mosaic, bits of Roving
Color: Mosaic – NINJA ; Roving – grey
Hook Size: I (5.5 mm)
Date Started: Dec 14, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 14, 2011

I’m infatuated with HUGE HUGE pompoms on top of hats. This isn’t really as big of a pompom as I would like, but it’s quite large. When I put it on my head, i started cracking up. I crack myself up. haha.

The hat itself is done in Bernat Mosaic in Ninja color (yeahhh…ninja!). The edging and the pompom was done in the grey Roving.

That’s all for now folks! SEems like i’m a crochet-state of mind as of late. hahaha. have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for coming back for an update!