Sorry friends. :(

Posted on Thursday, December 8, 2011Thursday, December 8, 2011 by jen / Posted in baby knits, Chewy, crochet, Purse-Day / Leave a comment

It’s been a long long time since I updated. Sorry, my friends. 🙁 I haven’t had much to update with. I kind of lost my knitting/crochet mojo for about 6-8 weeks. I was starting so many projects but finishing NOTHING. This is a knitting blog! hah! NO knitting…no updates.

So I have to apologize and thank you very much if you are still sticking with me here.

Alot of my momentum has decreased due to having a baby kitty in my house that terrorizes everything I do: eating, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, knitting, crochet, taking a shower…. I forgot what it’s like to have a kitten around and as much as I love him, he drives me insane!!! Knitting/crochet is practically impossible at home. he doesn’t attack still yarn…but once it’s in motion, he’s attacking it. he attacks my hair as I sit anywhere. My hair is some evil animal apparently. He never stops jumping on the counter as I cook (i’ve remedied this situation now…thank you the creators of SSSCat!!!). I can barely eat at home w/o him being all up in my face… sigh.

plus I can no longer knit at work…so my knitting time has been cut by like 75%! Sigh.

But the mojo is coming back slowly but surely. 🙂

I do have a purse to share. 🙂

excuse the photos…i stole them off Macys.com. lol

I am so lucky 🙂

the inside

if only this was my silhouette….

I totally love this purse. I got it on super duper clearance at Dillard’s and it was more than what I normally spend on a bag…but i couldn’t resist. it looked so cute and felt so nice 🙂

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I stayed home and worked. 🙂 It was nice. I love holiday pay. haahah.

I’m in a Christmas rush. You know what i hate about the holidays? How ppl will contact me/approach me about doing rush jobs for their gifts. I admit, i like working under pressure, but not this much pressure. When I had more knitting time, it was possible for me to do alot of stuff in a short amount of time. Those days are gone. I need to be more selective. Alot of ppl at work have been “suggesting” I make them Christmas stockings or toys. I don’t mind if you pay me. People always says “oh I’ll pay you!” but when I name a price, they act like I was asking for their first born child. I honestly work for dirt cheap. Too cheap. So I’ve been coached by some ppl (Botgurl and Janice and the boy) to just name sky high prices and people will quit asking me. hehe. it’s good and valid advice.

Why do I bring this up? No reason. lol. But I did do a rush job on a unicorn this week that came out really cute.

Project: Luna the Unicorn
Yarn: I Love This Cotton! Solids (Sparkle), various scraps laying around for horn and mane.
Amount Used: one skein
Color: white sparkle, green sparkle,
Hook Size: G (4.0mm)
Date Started: Dec 3, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 5, 2011

Isn’t it cute? It’s a pretty big unicorn…about 9″ long and 7.5″ tall (including horn). I’m surprised I finished this as quickly as I did considering my mojo problem, but i was on a deadline. not bad eh? 🙂

As I was taking pics of the unicorn, Chewy wanted to join in all the fun.

He’s so stinkin’ cute!!

I did make Mr. Chewy a Christmas stocking. I’m working on the boy’s Christmas stocking as well. I need to hurry up b/c it’s already Dec. 8th. EEK!

Project: Holly Berry Stocking

Yarn: I Love This Yarn! Solids
Amount Used: eh….some of each skein?
Color: burgundy / forest green / cream
Needle Size: US 8 (5.0 mm)
Date Started: Nov 20, 2011
Date Finished: Nov 30, 2011

If you look at the original pattern, there is hearts instead of paws. And there is no space on the original pattern for a name at the top. So I added 10 rows at the top for name and I changed the chart from hearts to paws. The boy’s stocking has the same modifications, except instead of paws or hearts, he’s going to have a gun chart. Sue me. we are gun nuts. lol.

I have a baby shower this weekend as well and lucky for me, I found a sweater and hat set in my reserve stash. So i’m crocheting fun hats for baby so mommy can have an arsenal for whenever baby is born and they do a photo shoot. I’m working on booties too. I got 2 hats done today, but the 2nd hat was created b/c the first hat was way too small. I don’t ever check gauge which is so stupid b/c I do twice the work. woe is me. Lucky for me these hats are QUICK.

Project: Puff Stitch Earflap Beanie Hat
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: less than one skein for both hats
Color: baby pink
Hook Size: H (5.0mm)
Date Started: Dec 7, 2011
Date Finished: Dec 7, 2011

aren’t they cute? The original pattern has pompoms at the bottom of the ear flaps. I wasn’t feeling it, so i just stuck a pompom on top. i <3 pompoms.

As you can see, the little hat was way too little. I think it’ll fit a preemie baby. Maybe I’ll gift it to one of the preemies at work….hmm….

Sorry for the long absence, my friends and thank you for sticking with me. I appreciate all of you. 😀 gotta get back to work on more hats and booties…sigh. 🙂

have a great weekend!

OMG

Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2011Thursday, October 27, 2011 by jen / Posted in Chewy, Knitting, Life / 1 Comment

I can’t believe I haven’t posted jack crap in over a month…almost TWO MONTHS!!

Sorry folks! I’ve had a reallllly busy few weeks apparently!! Or was it pure laziness? maybe a bit of both.

I’ll tell you this..i haven’t gotten THAT much knitting done in the last few weeks. That baby blanket? It be done, but I am en process on sewing on the fabric backing and i’m having to do it by hand. BLECH! I was going to hand deliver it to my cousin up north, but I didn’t have it done in time. My grandfather passed away on the last day of Sept, so I had to make a very last min trip up north and i just didn’t have the blanket completely ready. I couldn’t go visit that cousin anyway (opposite side of the family, plus other reasons…), so I didn’t try to rush on finishing it up. It gives me time to finally do the baby sweater, hat and booties I was going to make to match. 🙂 But yes, my family loss took up about 2-3 weeks of the last month. plus i’ve been working 6-7 days a week since Sept 1st. I just haven’t had much time to knit/crochet. I did work on a few slippers that did NOT turn out as I expected. Honestly, as much as I tried, I should have THREE full pairs of slippers and a ton of FO’s to show off! but noooooooooooooo…… ok ok enough. 🙂

I did buy a new bag this month. But there is something really odd about it. well, it seemed familiar…but i wasnt sure why.

I realized tonight when I was going to take pictures of it that I had this SAME EXACT bag already, except in black. I guess I never took a pic of it and posted it here b/c I can’t find it. but oMG!! the EXACT same bag bought like 8 months apart! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???

Sighh…..

I did get one FO done this month. I made another Saints Hat for my sweet little friend Quadry. I finished it and gave it to his mom before I could take a picture. But honestly? it looks exactly like the last one I did except this was the yarn was doubled and I made it for a toddler. and I made a HUGE pom pom for it. lol

I’m reposting the original photo, but then I’m posting a pic of the sweet boy wearing the hat that his parents sent to me. 🙂

Project: Fleur de lis beanie
Yarn: Vanna’s Glamour
Amount Used: half a skein? id ont know — yarn was doubled.
Color: onyx and gold
Needle Size: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Date Started: Sept 9, 2011
Date Finished: sept 23, 2011

Isn’t he CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE???? I just want to squish him and love him!!

Oh I did manage to find a day to hit up the Texas State fair to see my stuff hanging up there. 🙂 Here is my entries!

Is it me, or is how the stocking cap hung up totally insane??? I mean I don’t think I would have thought it was a stocking cap except that i KNEW IT WAS A STOCKING CAP!!! hmm. I’m never ever pleased w/ how they display alot of the stuff at the fair and I”m not sure why it bothers me so much. Not just my stuff…most of the stuff in general. Alot of the bigger items like afghans and stuff don’t get proper credit to display how beautiful they are when they are kind of heaped up in a corner. oh well. that is me. That’s my problem. 🙂

and I have to show the gratuitous Chewy pics. He’s getting too big. 🙁 I miss the tiny baby Chewy. He’s getting big and he’s getting into so much trouble!!!

Yeah I know. i’m one of those idiots that loves to dress up their pets. I found that Tshirt at Ross for $2. how can I resist. I thought it was going to be too big, but to my surprise it fit him perfect. ;( That made me sad. hahahaha.

Thanks for stickin’ w/ me folks. I wouldn’t blame you if you left me totally due to my lack of posts…but I promise to be better. 🙂

Have a great halloweenie weekend!

I know it’s been a while….

Posted on Thursday, September 8, 2011 by jen / Posted in Chewy, crochet, Knitting, Purse-Day / 2 Comments

hello all. 🙂 Happy Thursday! yes I’m actually posting today. And yes I am posting a purse today 😀

Another great Sam Moon find! 🙂 isn’t it cute cute? I love the flower!!!!

What’s been going on these last 3-4 weeks? nada. just been working like a dog. And dealing w/ a cat at home. i can’t do much knitting at home w/ a kitten there. He goes NUTS whenever I do knit and gets tangled up in all the yarn. He gets so into it all, i’m scared he’s going to strangle himself while playing w/ all the yarn! so knitting at home is limited. Sometimes I just want to leave him outside to go away when he’s biting me. hahaha. but then he throws the kitten eyes at me and I melt.

Ok enough kitty pics! what else has been up???

I got judged by Big Tex again this year. here is a break down of how he judged me:

I got 3rd place for this. 🙂

combined entry, 4th place (honorable mention)

these items WILL be on display at the state fair this year. 🙂

The baby sweater i submitted at the last min did not place. I did not expect it to. So no big deal. 🙂

I do have a few FO’s to show off:

Project: Blue Totoro
Yarn: Vanna white Lion brand Yarn
Amount Used: half a skein? id ont know
Color: Charcoal grey / White
Hook Size: D hook / 3.25 mm
Date Started: Aug 9, 2011
Date Finished: Sept 3, 2011

Made for Miss Evie. I was told she loves it. hahaha. Which makes me all warm inside!! I made him in charcoal grey b/c that’s what I had available here at home. 🙂

Project: Hoppy Baby Bunny House Slippers
Yarn: Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: bits of some skeins
Color: White
Hook Size: E hook / 3.5 mm
Date Started: Aug 31, 2011
Date Finished: Aug 31, 2011

These were whipped up quickly for no reason other than OMG they are BUNNY slippers for a BEBE! I could have paid more attention to the detail on the face, but I was in a rush for no reason. hahaha. but i like how the ears came out. they are perfectly floppy!

I’m still working on my cousin’s blanket. baby was born on Weds early morning….4 days late. So I better step it up b/c I heard it’s getting cold up there and my cousins are anxious to see what I”m making them. I need to quit being so lazy and finish up! 🙂

I think that’s all for now folks! Thanks for sticking with me and stopping by! 🙂

Thursday it’s Purse Day!

Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2011 by jen / Posted in baby knits, Knitting, Purse-Day / 1 Comment

Ok i have a sad sad photo of a bag I bought recently. The bag I was recently using was one of my fake Tokidoki bags…but it started to get too heavy! I had to shove so much in it and it wasn’t sitting balanced. So I had to make a switch up. A recent trip to Target found me a temporary solution:

tee hee. I took a screen shot of the bag on the Target website b/c it’s really hard to photograph bags WELL when they are full of stuffs. 🙂 Don’t you just love the print???

So with this new kitty in my house I haven’t been able to knit at home much. that dang cat FLIES at me every time he sees yarn moving and it’s like ATTACK!!!! So i’ve had a hard time finding time to knit b/c i can’t knit at work and now I can’t knit at home (for now). extremely frustrating! But i did have time to make a bulky weight newborn cardigan.

‘

Project: Bitty Bump
Yarn: Bernat Felting Natural Wool
Amount Used: exactly ONE skein
Color: English Rose
Needle Size: US 10.5 / 6.5 mm
Date Started: Aug 15, 2011
Date Finished: Aug 17, 2011

The kitty likes to chew on needles too. I used a pair of bamboo needles on this and the dang cat went nuts chewing on them when i wasn’t looking.

Fast knit. This is a very newborn size cardi. I’m trying to build up the reserves again. lol.

I”m still working on my cousin’s baby blanket and I need to hurry up. His baby is due in 2 weeks. I don’t plan on having the blanket done by the time the baby is here. BUT..i want to have the blanket done at least soon after. The original pattern I chose to make…i changed my mind. My gauge was off and the edging ended up being all ruffly. and i can’t be giving a ruffly blanket to a baby BOY. so i’m doing a log cabin and i love the color combo I picked 🙂

this is just 1/3 done. I have to make 6 more squares before I can stitch them together and do an I-cord edging. Liek I said…i need to hurry. at least before it starts getting cold in Canada…which is SOOOON. 🙂

So as many of you predicted, I decided to keep the kitty cat. sigh. I kept trying to fight his charms, but he wore me down!!! he’s just so stinkin’ cute and so far he and the boy get along. the only thing I cannot stand about him is the way he is constantly attacking my feet and biting on my toes. The boy says he can’t blame the cat b/c my toes look like kibble and bits. jackass. haahah he chews on EVERYTHING here! paper, knitting needles, yarn, my feet, etc. EVERYTHING!!! so I’ve decided to call him Chewy Chewbacca. haaha not b/c he looks like Chewbacca…just b/c saying “Chewy Chewbacca” is hilarious. As i type he’s fallen asleep in my lap and i just want to squish him b/c he’s so cute. Just call me Lenny. haahah.

I was going to give him away once I got him checked out at the vet and got him some shots and made sure he was healthy before I passed him along to my friend Nanc and family. She told me I was getting attached and I kept saying no no i’m not. I want to get rid of him!! she just laughed at me. And she even emailed me and asked me how the vet visit went. and I said all went fine. But i didn’t say “OK TAKE HIM NOW”. sigh. hahahaha. I have to admit, i love coming home and seeing this little guy tearing down the hall to greet me. I love waking up in the morning and finding him snuggled up next to me purring. I guess i did miss having a kitty cat around. 🙂

Anyway…here are some photos I took of him over the last two weeks. sorry if you’ve seen these on my facebook account this week. 🙂

have a great weekend everyone 🙂

OMG! Thursday and it’s PURSE DAY!!

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2011Thursday, August 4, 2011 by jen / Posted in Knitting, Purse-Day / 4 Comments

Howdy folks.

Botgurl pointed out to me that i went two weeks w/o a post…what was up? Nothing really. hahahaah.

After the kidney stone debacle I had a very very very busy week at work. I was so busy that when i got home after the day was up, i went to bed. hahaha. at least for a quick nap 🙂 So I haven’t been doing much knitting lately. that’s the main reason why no posts the last 2 weeks. I’ll have knitting pics up next week. 🙂

I did manage to get a new purse 🙂

Isn’t it the CUTEST evening bag? Do I need an evening bag? Nope. I never go anywhere requiring one. but i had to have it just in case! hahaha. it’s just so stinkin’ cute. Plus, when you go to Sam Moon….you get into that crazy mode where you have to buy everything you see 🙂

So I’m sure you noticed there is a little friend in the photos above. Who is it???

I’m currently in a trial period with a little baby kitty cat my friend Kathy found. Her big St. Bernard dog tried to eat this little kitty cat, so she called me and asked if I wanted him or if I could at least take him for a few days to avoid death by dog. I said no at first, but then I saw him and I couldn’t help but say “well, OKKKKKK….”

I forgot how insane kittens are. We estimate he’s about 8 weeks old. He’s been around people. he knows how to use a litter box and he uses it WELL. it’s so cute watching him cover up his poop. hahahah. He knows to go to the kitchen to eat and he snuggles REALLy well when it’s bed time. As soon as I got him home I gave him a good bath and let him know where the litter box was, and he got some crunchies. at first he just sat on me and did nothing. I think the heat was hurting him . (I think we are on like day 34 of straight 100+F heat?) I think he’s recovered b/c he’s all over the place. he’s constantly biting my feet! it’s cute but omg! and he’s SOOO little i’m so scared im’ going to step on him and kill him!

So the trial period is in place b/c i have only one issue keeping me from keeping this little booger. He’s a big issue. lol. and he hates cats. but I did a little introduction the other day and he didn’t HATE the little kitty. he actually let the kitty sit on his legs which surprised me. and he was nice to him. so we’ll see. If we can warm up a certain someone, i’ll be naming this little fella and you’ll see lots more of him.

of course I can’t help but take pics of a kitty cat right? esp one this cute!!

I’m sick of this guy climbing up my couch! he’s so little he can’t jump onto the couch, he has to claw it and then shimmy his way up. it drives me INSANE!!!!! so i had to get him a scratching post and omg! he was playing on it for like 2 hours tonight! it was so cute!!

don’t you just love his sleepy face? i do. lol

**UPDATE – ok how come no one told me my lightbox plug in wasn’t working anymore? LOL I was tired of that plug in anyway, so a diff. one is up to help you view pics 🙂

No purseday but it is Thursday!!

Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2011 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting, Purse-Day / 3 Comments

Howdy folks. I did have a post in mind last week that I was going to put up. But all day Weds i felt like $h1T!!! i was in alot of pain all day and i was exhausted. at night at about 2a i felt so horrible w/ stomach pains, i thought I needed to go to the ER to get my stomach pumped or something. I talked to the boy and after crying on the phone about how much pain i was in, he told me i better go to the ER or else he was coming over to drive me. well, i would have been really embarrassed if he drove me for nothing. So i said fine fine. i would drive myself.

I told the ER nurse that I thought I had food poisoning even though i had no symptoms of food poisoning. the doctor was all well…i guess we can give you some stuff and scan you….but if it’s nothing,we’ll just give you anti-nausea medication and send you home. fine. do something! pleeeease!

i did a CT scan and found out i had kidney stones. BIG ones. i gotz big stones. lol So they said “we’re admitting you and you are having surgery tomorrow.” WTF?? WHAT??? i had nothing but the clothes i had on and some knitting in the car that i brought in w/ me to knit in the ER. hahaaha. ‘

after the check in and some friends coming downstairs to hang out and say hi….the nurse gave me some meds that made me LOOOOOPY. botgurl happened to walk in right after i got that stuff and i think i was blabbing alot. who knows. she can tell you if i was acting a fool. lol i was in and out of consciousness for a few hours. The boy came to hang out w/ me at the hospital for a while. I had the surgery the next day and all is fine. I was home by Fri night…and very heavily drugged for the next few days.

I never want to go thru that again. that was SO PAINFUL!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to the doctor today for follow up and got the stent removed (OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW) and i feel 1000% better! i’m not going thru all this again! it was so horrible!! The nurses told me kidney stone pain is up there w/ childbirth. OMG. i’m not doing childbirth either! i’m buying my kid at Kmart! 🙂

I did get some knitting done though 🙂 hahaha. I did some knitting at the hospital. many ppl uttered these words: “You don’t have a cell phone charger or your laptop, but you have KNITTING???” it was in the car!!! 😀

Project: Angry Birds Pig
Yarn: Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton! Solids
Amount Used: half a skein? id ont know
Color: limelight
Hook Size: E hook / 3.5 mm
Date Started: July 2, 2011
Date Finished: July 4, 2011

I didn’t do the eyebrows b/c i couldn’t make them look right. isn’t he cute/ you can just hear him grunting. lol I did not use felt for the nose. i crochet two circles for the nose b/c i had no felt and i thought that would stay on better.

Project: Fleur de lis beanie
Yarn: Vanna’s Glamour
Amount Used: half a skein? id ont know
Color: onyx and gold
Needle Size: US 3 / 3.25 mm
Date Started: July 3, 2011
Date Finished: July 3, 2011

This was made for a doctor at work who is having her first bebe. she’s a New Orleans Saints fan. So this is perfect. I was asked to make a hat w/ some pink in it…but I didn’t know how to add any pink to this to make it cute. so i left the gold and black alone. it’s sparkly 🙂 hehehe

Project: Fleur de lis beanie
Yarn: Red Heart Shimmer
Amount Used: half a skein? id ont know
Color: shimmery pink and shimmery white
Needle Size: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Date Started: July 3, 2011
Date Finished: July 12, 2011

I just had to make a 2nd hat in pink/white. babies can’t have too many hats right? hahahaha. this is sparkly as well.

Project: Lace-Edged Women’s Hat
Yarn: handspun yarn
Amount Used: half a cone?
Color: rugged? lol
Needle Size: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Date Started: July 2, 2011
Date Finished: July 5, 2011

a friend of mine asked me to help her knit some hats for her sorority sisters that she’s going to see in a couple of weeks for a big trip they are going on to tibet! the yarn is wool from a friend of hers that has sheep that she shears and has spun up. it’s very rustic and rough feeling. this hat was soaked and washed for a while and then soaked in some conditioner to soften it up. it helped alot to do that. you can’t see the lace pattern too well, but i’ve done this hat before as a chemo cap. very easy to do and quick.

ok whew. that’s all for now. thanks for all of you that did know i was in the hospital for your well wishes. 🙂 They helped me alot. so did the hydrocodone. lol. but thanks so much for caring you guys.

In all the excitement i forgot that my blogiversary was last week! say what???? 🙂 i forgot until Teena in Toronto told me happy blogiversary last week! big duh! hahah. thanks, Teena! time has flown by, hasn’t it? it’s been i think 6 years since i started this knitting blog. wow. is that right? shoot i’m too lazy to go back and count. lol but i think that’s right. geez.

thanks for sticking it out w/ me, friends. 🙂 I know i’m not too exciting or anything, but it means alot to me that you’ve stuck by me. 🙂

(ok it’s not my birthday and i’m recycling the image i used on my bday…but it’s appropriate! hahaahh!)

It’s Thursday, but no Purse-Day :(

Posted on Thursday, June 30, 2011 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting, Purse-Day, Socks / 6 Comments

No purse today folks. I probably do have one i can photograph and show off…but i’ve had an epiphany this week:

**i’ve got TOOO many #$#$* bags!! (big duh)**

Y’all are witnessing history here. It’s like a crack addict admitting they are addicted to crack. a breakthru had happened. 🙂

I started the final stages of cleaning out my garage this week and i realize how much room some of those bags took. So i went through them, keeping the ones I cannot give up, cleaned out each one to make sure no personal information or money was left in any of the pockets/linings. I found over $100 in all the pockets. whee! 🙂 But i took a huge box of the bags (just cheap, but still in decent condition) and gave them to goodwill. i feel no regrets about doing this. I feel alot of relief actually. I’ve reached my ultimate goal w/ that space: I can park 2 whole cars in there now. all this time my car fit in there just fine amongst a sea of stuff . there is still stuff in there (i’m not PERFECT), but i can fit 2 cars in there! I don’t have to feel the twinge of shame every time a neighbor walks/drives by and stares at my garage. Granted, I do do that to my neighbors and omg…some of them can’t even park a car in their garage at all. I’m not that bad. but i shouldn’t say things like that. hahaaha.

You know what really shocks me? how many storage containers I have. I have a ton of them upstairs too! why do i have SO MANY!? i always want to organize, but I cause so much chaos b/c i have this idea in my head all the time of things matching, sizes matching up (very martha-esque). So i always go overboard when buying containers to store all my crap in. I have alot of emptys! which is a good thing, yes. but it’s weird! I”M WEIRD!

Amongst all this purging and re-organizing…i found a bunch of UFO’s. not a ton. 🙂 about 6? I ripped out 3 of them b/c I will never finish them. That felt gooooood.

And in those bags i found MORE circular needles. I swear to you, how can I have so many circs? i’ve been searching high and low for an organizational system that will work well with me and my needles. I did the bait bag thing. and yes…as many needles as I have, i know i was going to need more than 2 bait bags….the jumbo bags (thank you, Janice). but i wasn’t happy w/ that system. I had 2 bait bags already, but I was going to need another one. and I didn’t feel like buying another one.

nothing out there right now can hold and organize all my freaking needles. So i had to come up w/ my own solution.

needles2

Yes. i attacked Office Depot…one of my favorite stores in the whole wide world. 🙂

Here is a list of the elements I used:

File folder box (item #225624)
Office Depot brand Transparent Zipper Envelopes, letter size, Pack of 3 (item #667805) x 8 = 24 envelopes
mailing labels (i had these at home already)

So i went thru all the needles I could find at the moment and gave each size it’s own folder. My only regret is not buying a LONGER box. I thought this would be long enough. it’s big ENOUGH. but it’s a tight fit.

What i did at first was got some of those 3m file folder sticky tabs so i could easily file through them. the result is below.

needles1

Not bad right? Wrong. when you zip open the folder, the tab gets in the way! it was very annoying and they came off often. So i ditched those and printed up a bunch of labels and just stuck them on the envelope itself. excuse the messy-ness of the labels. my label printer and the labels are fighting about size issues. so i ended up having to cut them up.

needles3 needles4 needles5

Yes I have size 36 needles. I have size 50 needles that i found this afternoon in a box in the garage. those things are HUGE!!!!!!!! it’s like rowing a boat, I tell ya!

So far this has been working out well for me and takes up minimal space. I found out that i have a sh*tload of size 0, 1, 2, 3 needles. it’s a bit offensive. The needles i have the least of? Obviously the 36’s right? and the 50’s? Yes. but i have only 2 pairs of size 9’s. why is that?

I feel relief to know that most of my needles are in a central location. I found more over the last few days and i’ve been adding them to the box as I find them and still no problems. The envelopes expand enough to make room while being rigid enough to keep everything in order and contained. The most expensive part of this whole thing was the envelopes. The whole thing cost about $65 total which is less than what I would have spent on 3 giant bait bags + the bags that go inside.

with all the throwing-away and cleaning and crap, i did get some knitting and crocheting done. 🙂

Still working on my Pi shawl. it’s coming out nice so far! it’s really RED!! still no photos. i just can’t take a pic of it where it’s beauty so far shines thru due to the short lifeline that is in it 🙂 oops.

I did finish up some slippers this week.

Project: Ladies Rose Garden Ballet Flats
Yarn: Hobby Lobby I Love This Cotton! Solids
Amount Used: almost one full skein!
Color: periwinkle
Hook Size: F hook / 3.75 mm
Date Started: June 25, 2011
Date Finished: June 29, 2011

aren’t these cute? I like them alot! I just had a few notes:

Foot sizes are listed as a measurement in inches. There is no information as how much you are supposed to reduce to make it a better fit. The instructions just say “remember that this stretches”. So i subtracted 1/2 inch from the total length of my foot (according to pattern), but it wasn’t enough. I should have subtracted 3/4″ or a whole inch. when you do the heel, it adds length and I didn’t take this into consideration.
The slippers are a bit loose around my foot. There is no number amount of sts you are to pick up when you are doing the upper part. Which is fine, but now that I know this, i would have picked up less or done some dc2tog on the sides to cinch it up a bit to fit better and not so baggy.
I wish I had done the flowers in a different color.
I didn’t make the strap on top long enough. Well, I did b/c since the slipper is baggy on my wee feet, the shorter strap helped cinch it all in. but the buttonhole was too big or the button I used wasn’t big enough. so it kept coming out. not too convenient.

These are fast to do. I think i want to make these for some of my friends 🙂 hahaha.

Ok i think i went on and on enough. Sorry folks. hahaha. have a great holiday weekend! KEEP SAFE!!!

Thursday, yes! Purse-Day!

Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2011 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting, Purse-Day / 2 Comments

Happy Thursday everyone 🙂

check out my new bag!

What? Is this a repeat? are you joking? have you lost your mind?

What’s this? Isn’t this what I put up last week???? Yes…and No. 🙂

big girl panties!

I got both at A-Kon that weeken! 🙂 I saw the little ones first, then I saw the big ones. Then i said “OMG they are big girl panties!” so I had to get them. 🙂 TEEE HEEEE!!!

I didn’t work on my shawl much this week until today. Why no pics? I have a life line in the shawl right now which is causing it to look all bunchy. And the life line I used isn’t excessively long (big duh on my part)….soooo…it doesn’t look great right now. I did alot more crocheting this week rather than knitting though 😀

Project: Boba Fett – Star Wars Mini Amigurumi
Yarn: Plymouth Jeannee Worsted
Amount Used: less than half a skein each color
Color: various colors needed – 28 (green), 7 (beige), 19 (red), 50 (black), 1 (grey)
Hook Size: E hook / 3.5 mm
Date Started: June 19, 2011
Date Finished: June 19, 2011

I promised this (And others) to my brother a few months ago and I figured I better get cracking on it. I hadn’t done any of them yet b/c i didn’t have the colors needed for boba Fett. I have the colors for the others….but this is the one he wanted the most.

I”m not sure why his mask curves to the right a little. well, I am sure. I’m sure it’s b/c I did this in spirals when I was supposed to do something like a sl st at the end of every round and i chose to not see that in the pattern or something stupid like this.

Some more….

Project: Boutique Mary Janes
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Solids & Heathers
Amount Used: very little used of each color…left over from the baby hats I did last month
Color: hot pink, black, white
Hook Size: E hook / 3.5 mm and F hook / 3.75mm
Date Started: June 21, 2011
Date Finished: June 21, 2011

Aren’t these CUUUTE? you know what I love about doing little baby shoes? They are quick and so satisfying. Don’t you want to eat those little flowers b/c they are so stinkin cute??? These have been slotted for someone and they should be getting them this weekend when they are born. hahaha.

Project: Rose Garden Mary Janes
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Solids & Heathers
Amount Used: very little used of each color…left over from the baby hats I did last month
Color: hot pink, white
Hook Size: E hook / 3.5 mm
Date Started: June 22, 2011
Date Finished: June 22, 2011

Another very cute pair. these were made to help build up my baby stuff reserves. I’ve depleted the reserves. hahaha I liked making these better than I did the ones above. I’m not sure why. Maybe b/c the directions for them were written out better? I had some issues reading the pattern above, but that might be b/c I don’t think/read like a crocheter. I’ve had issues w/ patterns before when I wasn’t in a crochet-state-of-mind. they are written a bit differently, depending on who you receive them from. HOpefully i’ve figured out this girl’s ways b/c I realized I had bought a few of her patterns like a year ago and never really looked at them. eep. 🙂

That’s all for now, folks! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂 Have a great weekend!

Thursday, Yes….PurseDay!

Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2011 by jen / Posted in crochet, Hello kitty, Knitting, Life, Purse-Day / 1 Comment

I actually have a bag for today, folks. 🙂

I picked up this bag at A-Kon this year. I went there w/ my friend Kathy and ended up spending way too much money. Sigh. But i saw this little bag and i had to have it! isnt it cute? it’s a pair of panties!!

i started a new shawl this week. I’m working on a variation of EZ’s Pi shawl. you know how in the beginning of a shawl project, the beginning is the most exciting part and you just zip right thru it?? i did that while catching up on Big Bang Theory eps that I missed. I apparently had missed 7 of them. WTF? i’m all caught up now. 🙂 but anyway, i got past the exciting part and I”m on the boring part. i’m also using some hand dyed yarn that i dyed last month and apparently, i didn’t rinse the yarn well enough b/c my hands and everything I touched are RED. ARGH!!!

But i did finish a little project this week. 🙂

Project: Chubby Gnome Amigurumi
Yarn: Baby Bee Hushabye Solid
Amount Used: less than half a skein each color
Color: denim blue, forest green brown, white, pink
Hook Size: H hook / 5.0 mm
Date Started: June 14, 2011
Date Finished: June 14, 2011

I did this on bigger yarn than the pattern called for b/c i had it laying around. so I made it bigger, but I didn’t have bigger eyes. I had the 9mm eyes as required for the doll, but since the doll was bigger, this one’s eyes look beady. blech. and i didnt embroider the mouth on bc when I tried, it looked really weird so i stopped trying. He’s Santa Gnome 🙂

Friday is my bday and I’m starting to feel a little weird about it being that time of year again. I’m actually starting to feel old now. Gone is that feeling of “man i’m so glad I’m in my 30’s”. well, don’t get me wrong. I am, in some ways, glad I’m in my 30’s. But maybe it’s b/c i’m inching toward 40. My to-do list for life isn’t even complete yet. Maybe that’s why I’m dreading this birthday. Who knows. Sigh. Alot has happened in the last 12 months and maybe that’s some of it too. it’s a weird feeling in my tummy and my brain right now.

But anyway, I found this photo on flickr and thought I would hijack it. 🙂 and personalize it for myself. haha it’s a pretty cake! too pretty to eat!! 🙂

Have a good weekend, everyone! 🙂

It’s just Thursday :)

Posted on Thursday, June 9, 2011 by jen / Posted in crochet, Knitting / 1 Comment

Happy Thursday, everyone 🙂

No purse today. Not that I don’t have one to show! but…again…laziness wins right now. 🙂

I hadn’t been doing much knitting/crocheting lately mainly b/c i was SO busy at work I could barely breathe for about 10 days. But…all is well now. whew! hahha.

it’s hot here too. i mean…HOT. and it didn’t help much that the AC in my car wasn’t working for the last month. well, not working right. On Friday when i was stuck in traffic for 45 min and it was like 102F outside, i was ready to kill some people. Lucky for me I was able to get it fixed on Tues. Cool air is mine again!

I’ve got some FO’s to show off. 🙂

Project: One Koigu Mitts
Yarn: Mawata
Color: green? hand dyed. 🙂
Amount Used: 21.g of mawata
Date Started: May 24, 2011
Date Finished: June 9, 2011

I am totally LOVING knitting w/ the hankies. I mean…it’s reallllllllllllllllllllllllly addicting. It’s so addicting I went online and ordered more that were dyed already. I’m not in the mood to dye anymore hankies at this time. lol. but OMG! i can’t wait to make more stuffs!

The mitts don’t match each other exactly. I’m having some 2nd thoughts about the left mitten’s length. I think I need to shorten it a bit. but the colors do not match. the beauty of hand dyed. 🙂 cool huh? they are very very lovely. my hands are very warm wearing them, despite the fact that they are fingerless. My little hands get VERY VERY hot normally. so having full mittens wasn’t really a necessity for me.

I’ve done this pattern before. It’s a wonderful pattern. tee hee. it helps that my wonderful friend, Botgurl, wrote it. but it is a very well written pattern and FAST. very satisfying.

I have a fun little amigurumi toshare as well. 🙂

Project: Angry Birds Cardinal
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Solids
Amount Used: less than half a skein each color
Color: black, white, red, burnt orange
Hook Size: F hook / 3.75 mm
Date Started: June 8, 2011
Date Finished: June 8, 2011

His eyebrows are a bit wonky. hahahahaha. so sorry. isn’t he cute??? man. i love amigurumi. the toys are always so stinkin cute!

In fact, I love it so much, i’m going to do an amigurumi toy as my submission for the state fair this year. WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!! hahaha.

have a great weekend, everyone!