Since I'm jealous of Heather's lovely blog posts about her cross-stitch projects, in the best tradition of bloggers everywhere I'm brazenly stealing her idea and trying to capture the progress of my latest crochet project.

I love me some Vera Bradley handbags. I like to joke that I have "a little problem" with them, because I own a half dozen or so; then I went to my friend Fran's house and saw her bedroom redo, which included a special purse hanger on the back of her door for her SEVERAL DOZEN Veras! It made me feel much better... ;-) Lately I've mostly been carrying the basic Vera Handbag design in the (soon to be retired *sob*) Botanica fabric. I like it a lot and it works well for most of my needs, but for my daily commute I'd rather have something hands-free, preferably a bag I can wear with the strap cross-body. Vera doesn't do a lot of long-strap bags; her handbags usually have long enough straps to be used as shoulder bags, just not across the body. I see they are discontinuing the Hipster bag, and I almost bought one at 30% off last week, but couldn't pull the trigger; though if they had it in Botanica I probably would have bought it! It's close to what I want, but not quite. This is one of the times I wish I could sew, because I could probably make up a nice bag, though maybe not with the fabulous Vera fabrics. I used to carry a Betsy in the (now retired) Chelsea Green fabric, which was great but a little big for my needs right now--and again, not a hands-free bag. It makes a great carry-on bag when you're checking a rolling bag, though--it sits nicely on top of the rolling bag and I love all the pockets and organizational features. I dare say TSA loves it, too. No clutter means happy Xraying for TSA. I actually bought my rolling bag in green to match it. ;-)

I also love my Pacsafe Metro 100, which I use for sightseeing and traveling. I love the built-in security features. I've had my eye on the Metro 200 for a possible daily-commute bag.  I've decided to hold off till I get a netbook. That might not be till next year, if Toshi the Portege stops acting up. (Though I might contravene my self-imposed rest-of-2008 gadget moratorium and buy a Dell E...it will make my autumn trips to Chicago for the JASNA AGM and San Diego for the Hornblower convention SO much easier. We'll see.)

But I still want a hands-free bag. What to do in the meantime?

Over the weekend I thought about possibly crocheting a bag with a nice long strap, but I was concerned about the strap stretching out under the weight of all the junk I carry on a daily basis (tho' compared to some women I see on the train, who carry a purse AND a tote AND a briefcase/messenger bag, I travel relatively light). I started thinking, if I could only combine the best of Vera and Pacsafe with crochet techniques, maybe I could come up with something...

And I think I have. :-) More soon!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I can't believe it's been over a month since I updated this blog.  I've been busy.  See the pictures?

The bobble stitch sampler top needs assembly and some relatively minor finishing work, like adding the neck and sleeve borders.  The Crystal Palace Bamboozle (this color is "Ember Glow") works up nicely and feels good in my hands.  It splits like crazy, though.  One must pay close attention while knitting to avoid splitty messiness.  I haven't made up my mind whether this will go into my closet once it's finished, or whether it will be a gift.  We'll see how it fits and then decide.

This is a hoodie in progress, a Christmas present for one of my nephews.  Simple stockinette with rolled edges and ribbing made with Rowan's now sadly discontinued Plaid in "Spicy".  I love this yarn and am very glad to have acquired multiple skeins in multiple colors before it vanished from the marketplace.

My sister asked for a doily and runner set to go in the guest bedroom in her new house.  Other than requesting the color burgundy, she gave me free rein in design.  The doily pattern was taken from some stitch sampler book somewhere in the house, and the runner is my own design.   The yarn is Patons Brilliant in "Beautiful Burgundy".  I love the subtle shimmery effect....

Lastly, this scarf was commissioned by a friend.  Other than being asked to "keep it simple", I was given free rein in design, and thus came up with a modified moss stitch with two strands of worsted weight, one strand in dark green (Patons Canadiana), the other in chocolate brown (Plymouth Encore, color #1444).  Together they knitted up into a fabulously cushy and substantial reversible fabric.  Someone's neck is going to be toasty warm this winter.

My family has been informed they are all getting something knitted or crocheted for Christmas this year.  Gotta make use of all that yarn I splurged on!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I made a this really cute hat today! I found the pattern on Ravelry.com. The picture is the one from the free pattern, I'll post my hat in the morning when the light is better.

I think next time I'll do it in cotton instead of the acrylic and see if it made the hat a bit less floppy. I like floppy. I look really cute in floppy. But the brim on the hat didn't stand out as much as the picture. It's still cute though.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Today I found out about a wonderfully wonderful knitting event, the Ravelympics! Basically, it's a free-for-all where knitters/crocheters/spinners/etc. pick crafty events to participate in. You can't start the project(s) until the opening ceremony, and you have to finish before the closing ceremony.

I signed up for three events: Cowl Jump, Amigurumi Toss, and Mitten Medley. The whole idea is the challenge yourself, and I think three projects in 17 days is a good challenge! Most people choose one complicated pattern to undertake, but I thought a few different kinds would be fun. So here's the plan:

For the Cowl Jump, I have three different patterns in mind:

Smoke Ring by Cosette Cornelius-Bates

Here's a terrible picture of them from the show:

DW20052x13Doomsday-02295

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I'm WWWWAAAAAYYYY behind in my blogging, so I'm just going to start at the beginning and work my way forward.  On May 31st, I had a Help Whip Cancer fundraiser for the Pampered Chef.  As a party favour, I crocheted these cute coffee cozies and gave them to my guests.  I found the pattern here.  I had to adjust the pattern a bit in order for the cozies to fit a Starbucks Vente cup and a Tim Horton's XL cup.

New Pics 816

New Pics 817

PS: The flowers were from my MIL for my daughter's new playhouse.  They make a nice decoration!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

1) With patience, you can have beautiful things one small stitch at a time.

2) Quick and easy is good for the soul once in a while, but too much makes one sick.

3) Don't give up when something is hard to do, but don't be afraid to set them aside for a time.

4) Remember to finish what you have started.

5) Be organized in all you do or you will lose all of your hard work and inspiration in your projects.

6) Know your limits and don't start too many projects or nothing will get done.

7) Try new things! You may not like it at first but it might just turn out beautiful.

8) Even the simplest things are intricately woven.

9) Be proud of your work, even if no one else is.

10) With some string and imagination you can make comforting, loving, useful and even playful things and change a life.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

front.jpg

I finished crocheting this lacy bolero!

back-1.jpg

Totally lacy, isn't it? Made of summer cotton yarn.

front2.jpg

Looks feminine with the little black dress.
The secret here is that this bolero costs less than USD 5...

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I'm at my parents' place for the week, and it's been really awesome so far. The most obvious reason is because I'm not in Ohio. Also, because my mom keeps giving me money for stuff. And Cory (my brother) and I went to the White Sox game last night. And today I went to my favorite yarn store ever, Knitche. And I went to World Market for the first time ever and it's pretty much my favorite store now, besides IKEA and H&M. Hooray, stuff!

So first was my visit to Knitche. I wanted to get a skein of Malabrigo to make another One Skein Wonder, and two skeins of Rowan Pure Wool DK. I got the Malabrigo, but they don't carry Pure Wook DK yet. So I got Norah Gaughan vol. 3, two skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Dyed Organic Cotton, and two skeins of Katia Colibri.

holiday yarn, hooray!

close-up of the katia colibri

blue sky alpacas skinny dyed, 308 mallard

jelly babies!

world market swag

world market bag

THEY CARRY JELLY BABIES! I bought two bags. I'll probably go back and buy a few more before I leave on Saturday. They're the Doctor's favorite treat! And I have to say they are pretty tasty. I also found a fantastic woven scarf, a really neat over-sized coffee mug (perfect for ramen noodles), and awesome pub coasters. Hooray stuff!

Then when I was at home I found my mom's collection of old juke box 45s.

45s

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

It's been a while, a productive while, since I posted. I have a backlog of blog.
So here goes.
Let's start with something cute. The alien family. They came to earth to explore it's rich viral biodiversity with some friends they are expecting to arrive any day. They chose to stay in my town because it's high in the mountains and their beacon equipment will more easily guide their friends in, then they plan to travel to the New York City underground, and the polar ice caps to observe viruses in action.
... it takes all kinds, I guess.

Exploringaliens

Schoolgirl

Let's clean that out of our mouths with the infamous BLUE MONKEY! yes, I finished it! And it's cute.

Blue Monkey of DOOM

I also made a baby, with three blankets and a bottle, for my little cousin.

SlugBaby

My alien family's friends showed up, and they were amused to pose for a picture taken with my quaint little camera. I thought their pet, picked up on a planet on the way, was very cute.

PurpleFamily

Purpleportrair

Read and post comments | Send to a friend