And I'm back!

So I just downloaded this neat new program from the new MacHeist nanoBundle, which if you want it, you need to hurry and buy it, the offer ends today. Anyways the program is called MacJournal and it lets me update my blog thru it, as well as keep my personal journal, etc. Very nice stuff!

I’m also enjoying the Tweetie registration that comes with it! Tweetie is my favorite Twitter client for Macs out there, and now I no longer have to see the ads! Although, even if you don’t want to pay for the update, the free version isn’t that annoying at all. 2 thumbs up!

So I’ve been doing the knitting thing lately, currently I have 3 different projects on the needles, one on the hook, and a custom order coming my way soon. I’d take some pictures to share, but my camera is currently being repaired… Should be fully operational by tomorrow though, then I can share some yummy yarn pictures with you guys!

That’s all for now, it’s 2am, and I need to get up “early” tomorrow to prepare for my Spring Break trip, headed to WDW!!!

<3 <><

You win some, you lose some...

This newest semester at University has been less that enjoyable, to say the least. My French professor has a personal problem with me, and so I find myself in 3 of 4 classes that I can't stand. Also I have so much French homework that the rest of my grades are slipping. And I'm getting at most six hours of sleep a night.

Ravelry Links follow!!!

BUT through it all, my knitting preservers! In fact I've done more knitting in the last few months than I have hooking. However, all of my HPKCHC projects this month that I've turned in have been crocheted!

So for your viewing pleasure!!!:

My dad's Christmas gift, because we tease him about being Mr. Peanut!



















And I'm most pleased with this little guy! I took this pattern (non-Ravelry link), and modified it, which you can read following the picture!

Here's what it should look like:





















But here's what mine does!




















Modification Notes

I really wanted an oak sproutling to emerge from an acorn, like they do in real life, so I took some liberties with this pattern!

First I went outside for a live reference and pulled up a young acorn sprout that the squirrels felt belonged in the flower beds. They’re mistaken.

After I made the acorn and it’s cap, I began to think about how best to add the sproutling. I decided to have it pull out from the center of the cap. When you finish the cap, DON’T cut the yarn off or finish it up. Leave your last loop there, stick a paper clip in it so that it doesn’t rip out your work and leave it all attached to the skein, you will come back to it to use it!

Since I crocheted this project, I think my cap was longer than it would have been if I’d knit it, so I folded my cap under a little and stitched it around, to give it a nice rim! Then I moved on to the leaves.

Leaves: I used a size smaller hook on these. These were pretty much just free-styled, as I wanted them to look random, like they do in real life. I chained about 14 for the first leaf, and crocheted down one side for half of the blade. Since I started at the top of leaf I just sc-ed into the first look from my hook, then sc-ed and chained 2, then sc back into it, then sc-ed into the next. The stitch after that I sc-ed, then ch 2, sc into the same hole, ch 2 again, sc back into the same one, then sc a few down, then slipped over to the other side and worked my way back to the top of the blade replicating what I’d done on the first side.

There were a few gaps, so when I finished it off at the tip, I left a length of yarn, and sewed the blade together down the back along the rib, and this made them fold slightly, which was a perfect look!

The second leaf went a little different, but once you understand the basic idea it’s not that hard to variate it. Join the two, or more (doubt anything over 3 would fit tho), and make sure you have a stem of about ch 20 in green.

The Brown Part of the Stem:
This part starts at the cap, I just chained 10, then joined it to the bottom of the green stem, and chained into it, covering the green tail as I went. This goes for about 10 chains, so you actually end up with 20 visible in brown, and 10 visible in green, the opposite of what it was before assembling! Just weave the end of the brown. I put a needle on it and whipped around the stem some more to mostly cover the green, then I pulled my end down thru that, pulled it SUPER tight, cut it, and then when I eased it out it disappeared! Tada! Magic.

Assembly:
I stuffed the acorn bottom with some tangled up leftovers of the brown wool (this is a great use for yarn scraps, fyi), and sewed a few strings over it thru the rim of the acorn, to keep it held in.

Then I made sure the sprout was pulled to the outside of the cap, and sewed the cap onto my acorn body. Very easy.

How It Works
You stuff the leaves first into the hole in the cap, then the rest of the stem, except for the 10 sc part of the brown that is skinny/narrow. This is your dongle/loop. You can hang this on a Christmas tree if you wanted, and then surprise people with what it can do!

I wish I’d used a lighter brown on the acorn body, but I didn’t have another brown, so I used what I had, overall I’m VERY pleased with it!

There are more pictures if you follow the Ravelry link to my project!

I'm bringing blogging back!

So who wants to hear about my day? No one? Tough. So I went to a football game last night. Worst. Game. Ever. Except for the weather which was a huge shocker. My team had no defense, and one of the worst human beings ever was 2 rows up and to my right. I wish someone had pushed him, nobody would have ratted them out. The worst part is he was cheering for my team!

After the game we went to leave the parking garage and the city police decided they weren't going to dedicate as many officers to the game as they used to due to "budget issues" (even though the games bring in more money to the local economy than pretty much anything else in this town) so we couldn't leave the parking garage for over an HOUR. Which is ridiculous and has never happened before. We moved about 200 feet every 30 minutes.

Additionally the game was an 8pm Monday game, who does that? We finally got home around 2am, and I didn't go to bed until about 3am. I had to get up at 6.30a for work and classes, which sucks! I'm such a zombie today. Which brings me to my real news. Someone decided it would be funny I guess to release pepper spray or something similar in my first class about 5-10 minutes before it started. I'm in the back row of the lower section of that auditorium, and we all thought the people hacking in the front were being funny about H1N1, until about a minute later it hit us in the back of the room. My prof dismissed class, but the damage was already done. Between cheering at the game last night and the pepper spray my throat is shot. I'd like to know who released the spray, I'm okay with tazing them!

On a more fiber related news I forgot my knitting today. Guess that's probably a good thing, I'm currently working on a hat, and I'd hate for that to have gotten pepper spray particles in the yarn!

That's all for now but I hope to be back to updating my blog more regularly from now on, especially since the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup is back in full swing for the Fall semester! Don't know what I'm talking about? Step 1, get a Ravelry Account. If you already have one, proceed to Step 2. Step 2, search for the HPKCHC group and sign up as a Not Quite First Year! Inevitably people will drop out and they will sub in NQFY's! Step 3, have a blast!

SOAR RAVENCLAW!

If at first you don't succeed....

It's unheard of. Impossible. Beyond belief. I, am knitting. I KNOW RIGHT!? We all though it couldn't be done, I'd given up on the possibility. But a miracle has occurred! 

My biggest problem with knitting has always been that I didn't know what to do with all of the needles! So I went to Jo-Ann's, bought myself some #3, 7" DPNs, and gave it one more try. AND IT WORKED! So I've been practicing knitting like a fiend. I knit in the car between classes, in lecture, at home while watching TV, the doctors office, etc.

I'd low to show you visual proof of said knitting, however I can't find my camera atm. I cleaned up around here quite a bit too, but I still can't find it. I think it's hiding. But nonetheless, I've gotten fairly proficient at knitting. 

I can now cast on two different ways, knit, purl, knit increase two different ways, purl increase, knit decrease, cast off, but the one thing I can't do is purl decrease, so I'm going to look in another book I have when I find some more time and see if I can figure out a new way to do it. Oh, I can also rib, but I'm having issues doing the 1x1 rib, I've tried it at least 10 different times but it gets all messed up, I think I just need to pay it more attention. And I can't knit w/the DPN's for a sock, I think it's mostly because I don't know what I'm really doing, so I just need to spend more time with it. I figure I'll youtube some videos on it or something, see what I'm doing wrong. Maybe this weekend I'll have more time, but probably not. I have a "field trip" on Saturday, and a test and lab on Tuesday that I need to study for.

Happy Fibering!

I have a dream!

Sure it's a day late, but I still have a dream! I have a dream that I will actually post to this thing at least once a week! I'm currently admining at two different forums, and at University full-time right now, so I consider that ambitious! 

Plan on seeing some fiber on here soon, I've started up a lot of projects again, especially since yarn keeps me sane, and I'm going crazy!

Side note: newest word I've learned, Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. It's actually a rather depressing word, but if somebody ever got it in Boggle, I'd call them Boggle champion of the world! Mostly because I think it would be impossible, even if playing Big Boggle. That has been the bright star in my Linguistics class however, so now I leave you to return to the boredom. 

Folding Trees/Newspaper Yarn Traffic

I noticed I've been getting some traffic from over at Folding Trees, where I commented about newspaper yarn. In case that's what you're looking for I am actually experimenting with that now, it's about the only thing I've had to do w/yarn since school started. I have some on my drop spindle now, but I was having problems taking it off, getting the right spin, etc, so I'm still experimenting. I'll be sure and post some pictures and information about it as soon as I get back from my trip and play with it more! Which should be by next Friday at the latest! *adds to iCal* If you want me to keep you updated please feel free to add a comment with UPDATE in it and I'll make sure to personally let you know what I learn as I go!

Oh and if you didn't come here from Folding Trees be sure and check them out! Awesome Paper Craft site, one of the best I've ever seen! They update frequently too! That's really hard to find in a paper blog!

CraftyFish

It's Aliiiive!

So I'm back! But not from outer space, sorry to disappoint the astronauts out there. My summer semester is winding down, as I type this I am sitting in my LAST lecture for Psychology. This class is the biggest joke... The professor teaches exactly what the book says, but less beneficial, and boring, and drawn out. And she repeats her self a lot too... This could be forgivable if she took her test material from the lectures, but no she takes it from random stuff in the book, and then twists it and rewrites it so that we can't understand it. I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just an experiment and instead of being the placebo group, we're the test group... Nobody has gotten over an 85 except on one test where the highest grade was a 91, ridiculous, thankfully extra credit can bring you up to an A. 

So with today being the last day of classes, and tomorrow finals I decided to take advantage of this boring hour plus block of time to catch ya'll up on my hooking activities! There hasn't been any! I've been taking 15 credit hours in 6 weeks instead of the traditional 14, when can I find time? I tried, hard, just didn't happen. However I'm fully prepared to gear up and start anew! And I shall be starting anew with the Ravelypmics!!!!

That's right! I'll be on a plane/in airports a lot on Friday and then again on Monday flying West to deliver a showdog and so I thought I'd take my crocheting with me since the Ravylmpics start that Friday, the 8th! Go Team USA! I really do prefer the Winter Olympics though, more fun, closer to extreme sports with the snowboarding and such. And I just love watching Apollo Ohno speedskate! 

I had originally planned on making the Dusty Miller for the Sweater Sprint, however the Amazon seller I bought the book from shipped me the wrong book... So now I'm entangled in that mess, but I also bought the second book by that author from a different Amazon seller so maybe I can find something in there to do if it gets here in time.

I'm also in the Amigurumi-n-Toy Toss, and I'll be making this wonderful anatomically correct, well in yarn at least!, heart. I found it on Etsy by Pepperberry. I can't wait to get started, just having to sit on my hands until the Ravelympics start! Not like I can have time until after finals anyways, not with all the cramming and packing for my flight! 

I'm also really loving the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris are just so awesome! Anyways in honor of that I will be attempting a Dr. Horrible Doll as well! He will definitely get made, but maybe not in time for the Olympics! It's my own pattern, and yes I WILL be selling the pattern on Etsy! So keep an eye out if you're a fan!

And that's it for me, class is starting to wind down, so I'm going to wrap this up, add some tags, and start thinking about what yarns and how much I want to take on my trip!

Keep on reading and crafting! Crafty Fish

P.S. I should mention! I'm hooking for Team Geek! and TeamMcCain!

Still not dead!

Okay so have I been absent or what!? Lol! Things are crazy, trying to finish up here at school, so I'm cramming in a ton of classes in a very short amount of time, then maybe I can get back to real crocheting. I'm about to start 3 sweaters, not at once mind you, but I have 1 I need to complete by August 20th, then the other two by cold weather time! And I live in FL so that will give me some time! 

Stay tuned! 

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm not dead, but my camera cord has been hiding, and everything I want to tell ya'll about needs explanation! So I'm going to clean up around here this weekend and hopefully find my cord so that ya'll can get some pretty pictures! Meanwhile I have to go buy some textbooks, school starts back on Monday! 

It came upon a midnight clear...

One can try to post daily, but it's hard when you don't have internet! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Better late than never! So this is what I've gotten accomplished today! A jellyfish! He was quite obnoxious! All that eyelash yarn, feh. And I had to cut down all of it around the face so you could even find the eyes! Well I still have things to do, so goodnight guys!

Accio Quote!

Morning! So I'm going to see 3 movies w/a friend today! P.S. I Love You, Nat'l Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Sweeney Todd! Woot! Anyways since I'll be dead by the time we get back here's a little something for ya! Happy Christmas Shopping! Only 3 days to go!

I finished it ages ago, but it was a Christmas present so I couldn't post it!

EDIT: August 5th, 2008; I never gave the Ravelry link if you wanted it! So here ya go!

“A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.”

A new day, a new post! Yay! So the Gryffy scarf has been completed! Hurrah! And more work has been done on the Ravenclaw scarf as well, but that's neither here nor there! This is to celebrate being FINISHED w/Gryffy. It's a love/hate relationship! 

So as loyal readers would know, the scarf was 30 stitches across, then folded in half and sewn. I've sewn the ends together as well, just a simple whipstitch, being to try and find out how my fringe should look. I ended up on atypically.knit's site for some help! This is where I started, back when I thought I could knit it! The needles and I just didn't click! (pun intended!) But she does have very valuable information, in fact the pattern she gives is great too, I just couldn't use it! Anyways she suggest 8 inch long strips of yarn, folded in half, in groups of three, every 2 stitches. And I think that worked great. Now I didn't need as many as she uses, I only did 9 sets per side, every 2 stitches or so. I like to approximate. If you're making one too, do what makes you feel happy! 

She suggested trimming them all the exact same length when done, but I didn't do that. I know that when you do that they still end up a little uneven due to time and wear. I trimmed the ones that were really long, but that's it! Now if the intended owner doesn't like it I'll trim it of course! But otherwise it stays! 

Enjoy the pictures! And of course, you can always see it on Ravelry!

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, where those of wit and learning, will always find their kind."

Well I'm finally getting around to a new post! I'm so horrible! I think I'll try and update my blog daily for a while, except some of this weekend before Christmas, because we're going out of town and I don't want to have to use the really slow dial-up where we'll be. Or the PC that goes w/it! The updates may be a full post or project, or simply some random picture I've taken! Hey a post is a post right? :D

So the Gryffy scarf has been going swimmingly! I'm completely finished crocheting it and have folded it, stitched it in half, washed it, dried it, and shaped it! It looks great! I just have to sew up the ends now and add tassels.... The pattern doesn't really say how to do that though, so I guess it's up to me decide what way I want to do it! I'm going to have to do some google images searching I guess! 

Here it is in all of it's Godric Gryffindor Glory! Now that I see the first two pics I think the camera washed them out a little! The rolled up picture is true to color!

So last weekend a friend and I went to an LYS (Local Yarn Shop) across town from us, and I just got all caught up in the beautiful, colorful, sadly expensive, wools. So much so that I bought myself some blue and a grey/silver by Brown Sheep and have already started work on my Ravenclaw scarf! My poor other projects! They're so unloved! I actually hope to have my scarf to the point where the Gryffy is by Christmas, and Gryffy done by tomorrow! *fingers crossed* 

If you want to know which yarn brand and colors I picked for the Ravenclaw scarf just pop on over to here on Ravelry! If you're not a Ravelry member just send me an email or leave me a comment! Here's a picture for an idea though! 

I also went w/22 stitches across on my scarf, rather than the 30 for Gryffy. I'm quite mad at myself right now though, I had planned on using the bronzy color for my scarf like in the books, and I blanked.... And I'm using silver like in the movies... I can be such a ditz at times! Owell, it's still really pretty! I'm actually about to add on the 5th set of bars, so use your imagination and add them on to this picture from last night! 

The two yarns are really 2 different thicknesses in my opinion, the blue barely making a worsted weight to me... But the nice owner insisted they worked well together and showed me something she had made with the two, and they did indeed look great together. Though they aren't quite the same size like she said, they fit nicely. The grey being thicker makes the captured bars just slightly bigger, which is a look I rather like. If you stretch the grey gently it is the same size as the blue, and the blue doesn't stretch at all, so I guess in a way they are the same size! All I know is it was $7.20 a skein! This scarf better last FOREVER! Though yarn is cheaper than professional therapy! 

That's all for now! Catch ya'll later!

FINALS! AAAAHHHH!!!!!!

Okay so I should pass all my classes with A's, but lets face it. With out the worrying, stressing, hyperventilating, nausea, stress eating, thumbsucking, rocking in the corner, crying, panicked last minute studying I'd never accomplish that. :D 

Anyways this is just a quick update to let you all know I'm still alive! I had planned on treating you with a lovely post with pictures and projects and lots of words the weekend after Thanksgiving, but my Grandmother took a turn for the worst and had to go into the hospital so we hit the road to go see her, and I never did find a decent internet connection I could use. So no post. And I've been busy with my new job and school since. I got promoted, yay me! I still work the same amount of hours, but the schedule is better overall, so that's awesome. 

I'd love to give you all an update of my crochet projects tonight, but I'd feel guilty doing that without being ready for finals, so expect an update either late tomorrow (doubtful), Tuesday after finals, or Wed. after work! Anyways the scarf is 95% done, so hopefully it'll be completed by then! Bear with me! Keep reading the blog!

Happy Turkey Day!

Well here we are! Thanksgiving! And I find many things to be thankful for, even if this is probably the busiest one ever for me. What are you thankful for? Here's a small list of what I'm most grateful about!

• I have a new job that doesn't suck to bad, and pays well.
• I'm getting A's!
• No Science final.
• I have a roof over my head.
• I have a nice car that runs.
• My mom is cooking a delicious dinner as I type (which I'm going to go help with)
• I have a ton of yarn to use!
• I have a Mac as my primary computer as opposed to a Windows OS machine!
• Did I mention food?
• My family and true friends, but that's a given most of the time!
• Abnormally warm weather today in the 70's (F)
• Aforementioned weather to make putting up the Christmas lights comfy!
• CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! I have a billion! (not really, but I think I'll count this year!)

Of course for most people, no matter how happy and thankful you are, there are always a few things you're less thankful for, and I am one of those people!

• My job is 30 hours a week PLUS school....
• I'm finishing my very last Jones Halloween Limited Edition Candy Corn Soda. (How fitting that it was on a holiday? Totally unplanned.)
• I have less time to crochet anymore....
• Tons of last minute school projects
• It never snows in Florida anymore....
• That my mom went "Veggie" and so we don't get a Turkey but instead an organic, free range, non-genetically-hormonally-antibody-altered Chicken, because she missed out on getting the same thing in a Turkey. 

I think I'm going to take today and FINISH a crochet project. Gryffy can wait. I have a lamb that has been wandering around here without legs and a tail, well I guess not wandering because it has no legs, but still, you get the idea! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Gryffy as he's now called. V2.07

So I'm almost done w/the seventh set of captured bars. I didn't get to do any more of it today, and I'm unsure if I will or not. I have some Latin sententia to get thru for the big test on Monday, and I'm doing my annual Pre-Christmas Clean-Up! It's where I make room for all the decorations that I put up! I find all the wrapping supplies, put them in one place, carve out a space for the tree, etc! Plus if everything isn't cleaned up I'm not allowed to put up lights, and I live for the lights! I start before the Thanksgiving meal every year. After all, why put off until tomorrow what you can do today!



Tomorrow I'm going to the FSU football game! Shame this scarf won't be ready to go with me! Unless maybe I were to start taking speed or something...

Gryffindor, V2.04

Well here we are, 8 days later, makes for great continuity in the blogging world huh? Busy weekend, many things to do, latin to study, and a scarf to get under control!

And under control I did! First off I found out I was reading the pattern WAY wrong. And I missed that part at the end about folding it in half and sewing up, which makes sense, I just figured it wasn't done. Whatever. I'm over it! And what was in the last pictures is no more! I've started over, and it' looks FANTASTIC! So fantastic that I will most likely end up making one for myself, in Ravenclaw house colors. With silver, not bronze. Who came up w/that idea anyways? It's kind of hard to confuse silver with bronze, maybe someone on the costume staff of HP was colorblind. Talk about being in the wrong line of work!

So here is my progress so far! I get a bunch of it done at school in between classes. I either sit in the Honors lounge and chat, or take my laptop and catch up on TV I've missed because of studying or sleeping! It's a great thing for my hands to do!




It looks a little warped down between the first 2 sets of bars, and that's because I tried stretching it out on my knee for some bazaar reason, I don't plan on doing that again! I'm assuming all sins will be erase once I sew it together, none of that should even be noticeable. Then I get to do tassels! I love tassels, so tassely! But for now I'm ready to start on the 5th set of captured bars. I figure with Pushing Daisies and Private Practice on tonight I might even make it thru 6 or 7! Yay me!

As always here's your Ravelry Link! And reminder, join Ravelry!

I just found a pattern today for a knit R2D2 beanie, which I absolutely must have, so now I have to try my hands at knitting again... I just find it so much easier to control one hook, which is harder to drop stitches on, than 2 needles. I'm accident prone, like I really need to add needles to the mix!

You sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.

So end of day one w/the Gryffindor scarf and things are going along quite well! I'm ready for the first color change, which I would have done but I didn't take that yarn w/me to school today and there wasn't enough room in the backpack what w/my Latin books, random notebook, and MacBook. So it had to stay, honestly I didn't think I'd get to do much crocheting at all today. But we didn't have much writing in Latin today so I got about 7 rows done there, and another 10+ at a Carnation sale we were doing for Faculty Appreciation day on Thursday. Then I finished up the last bits in Science before that class even got started hardly, so I was sad.... I'd probably finish the gold and then another garnet tonight if it wasn't for a Latin and Science test on Thursday, and a Humanities test on Friday.... None of which I feel all that good about. Had a math test on Monday that I'm worried about getting the grade back from tomorrow.... It all snuck up on my somehow this week! BUT only a month 'til Finals! YAY! I like finals, because they're final!

If you like it here's the free pattern, and again if you have Ravelry it's all here! If you don't have Ravelry, get on the list!

Right side, and wrong side.

And X gets the square....

I find it so much easier to post when I have a working camera and can actually take pictures of my work! After all each picture is worth a thousand words! I wonder if I could just substitute a picture for this 1000 word essay I have coming up....

Here's the latest square in my quilt, I now have an accurate representation of the color schemes for my checkerboards! I think I shall have to put this aside for now though and hurry up and start a scarf promised to a friend years ago! I have the yarn and everything! She wanted a HP scarf in Gryffindor house colors, and I insisted it had to be knit to look right. I have the pattern and everything! Sounds easy right? Wrong. It requires a knowledge of knitting. Which I don't really posses. So I finally found out that I could crochet it in a way I can't remember right now, but is commonly called the Afghan stitch and is done w/a loooooooong hook. So I bought the hook but was working on my quilt and didn't want to stop. Well now that I'm at a good stopping point I might as well pick up the hook and give it a go! As long as Pirates Online doesn't stop me! So addicting...

The Quilt of Many Colors V1.something

So I've been working on a new quilt and updating it on Ravelry, which I finally got into! YAY! If you're not already in, get on the list! Trust me, it's amazing, and the future of those of us who use yarn and hooks or needles!

Anyways so this is the quilt, in it's begining stages, which I'm currently still in!
I got the pattern from Happy Yellow House, who has some awesome quilt patterns I suggest you check out. They're free, so enjoy!

I had to modify the pattern somewhat because I discovered that my 3 color schemes for the checkerboard pieces weren't going to work w/10 squares of checkerboard. I don't do 3-4-3, it has to be even! And I really wanted the quilt to be bigger as well, so I added two additional rows on the bottom, and a column on the side! So instead of 4 big squares by 5 big squares, it'll be 5 squares wide by 7 squares tall. Giving me 35 individual completed squares. 18 will be checkerboard, 17 will be the star design. And 3 goes into 18 six times! So I have my evenness! No I'm not anal, why do you ask? I was watching some Harry Potter yesterday while doing one of the checkerboards and I think I'm going to have to slip house colors into some of the Star pieces for added fun!

I really should take some time and do the math on the final size...

BTW, if you are on Ravelry, you can get all the deets there! Just click here!