FO Friday: Waves of Love

This is an OOOOOOOLD WIP. I started it at a family craft rave Thanksgiving weekend 2010! I don't know why those sleeves were too much for me, but I got to them and just stopped. I finally decided to rip the sleeves and do them in solid black. It worked out well.

I gifted it to my so handsome cousin, Ameer, who turned one year old. These were the school colors of my alma mater.... since Ameer's daddy & I went to the same high school, this was perfect!

Rav'd

Yarn Along: Hippo Hat & Gonna Be A Movie Read

LOOK! I'm posting early for Ginny's Yarn Along!

I'm making a hat for my little friend G. She turned one year old today, so I'm a little late, but I'll call it a Valentine gift. :) Designing as I go, but I hope it looks like a hippo face. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I had to redo this hat 3 times before I got a size that I liked. Frustrating.

I ordered The Knitting Circle after I read that Katherine Heigl is going to be in the HBO movie. I don't always love her movie choices, but I do love Katherine. I'm LOVING this book. It's speaking to me in ways I didn't expect and making me think about my knitting and mourning in new ways. While reading it I realized after Mom died I started crocheting LIKE MAD and then taught myself to knit and haven't stopped. Now it's a really weird day if I don't knit or crochet for at least a little while... and often it's for hours at a time. 

Meanwhile, the support the people in the knitting circle give each other is reminding me a lot of my "home" Ravelry group. The Organized Knitting Club may only meet online, but we've bonded really well. It's a pretty awesome group and it's been so great getting to know them while also using my stash and feeling more productive. YAY!

January 2012 Finished Objects

Well.

Thanks to the OKC Stash Down I have been a busy little knitter this month. Check it:

ELEVEN finished projects in one month! I'm pretty excited about that. Granted, one of them was a UFO from last year and most are small, but they're done and I pretty much love all of them!

Here's the run down:
Top Row:
Winter House Cloth- One of many I plan to make for Christmas gifts this year.
"Pebbles" Hat- The pattern name is actually "Republic Hat" but this was made to go with a Pebbles vest. It matches really well with the band of garter at the bottom & the little buttons. Perfect.
Dizzy Hat- A very sweet girl from the OKC sent me this Debbie Bliss Rialto from her stash. She apparently doesn't know I'm stashing DOWN this year. I felt a huge compulsion to use the yarn as soon as it got to me so it didn't go into my stash! Luckily, the yarn is AWESOME. Very springy, so it's super easy to knit with. I made this little hat for myself. It's tiny but I like the way it looks sitting on the back of my head :)
Insomnia Baby- Also thanks to the Stash Down I have a compulsion to use up every bit of a skein. So this little gnome was meant to take up some left over Malabrigo. I still have some though...

Middle Row:


Grandma's Favorite- An experiment for the Christmas cloths. I'm still not sure how I feel about this pattern but I have a TON of Dishie to use up, so I forsee another go at this one later in the year.
Elise Shawl- This was originally going to be for a swap but I was really unsure of the color for my partner. I like it but I'm not sure it looks good on me. This is sitting in the gift stash until I figure out what exactly to do with it.
Radicowl- I LOVED crocheting this and love wearing it even more. I get tons of compliments on it, too. I can totally see making more of these in the future. It's just SUCH a yarn eater, being crochet and all.

Bottom Row:


Pebble Vest- I've made this vest more than once. It's a great, quick baby knit but it is definitely newborn sized. Made this for a friend-of-a-friend who is always super excited to see me knitting & crocheting.
Zinnia Rialto- This is a baby hat that used up every last inch of the Debbie Bliss Rialto I was gifted. I LOVE the way it turned out. This is staying in my gift stash for a very special baby.
Hat Fit For A Best Friend- I've already blogged this. It served its purpose, keeping Clay nice and warm on his trip. :) I washed it for him to avoid accidental felting & it held up pretty well.
Another Zinnia- I frogged not one but TWO baby knits for my high school BFF's newest arrival. I gave up on cute sweaters as time was getting short and just went with this little hat. I'm pretty pleased with it. I kind of love that it's both knit & crochet. This may become my go-to girl gift.

I'm really loving how productive the Stash Down is encouraging me to be! I should have a LOT more finished projects this year and hopefully have some gifts ready for birthdays and Christmas without having to rush.


What have you worked on this year? Any accomplishments you'd like to share?

FO Friday: Hiphop-o-potomus

My friend brought her little 9 month old daughter to my birthday brunch. Baby G is so freaking cute. She was super well behaved & was quite amused with the dozen adults passing her around. Her momma mentioned that they like hippo things for her. I stayed up a few nights and through together a hat & booties for her.

The hat was just off the top of my head as I went along. The hippo applique was fun. I adjusted the sizing by skipping a few rows for the ones on the shoes. 

I followed GoodKnits' pattern for toddler shoes, but again skipped many rows because Baby G has teensy tiny feet that have barely grown since she was born.

For something I threw together in a couple hours, I'm pretty pleased. If I hadn't been making up the hat & trying to figure out how to reduce the hippo pattern on the fly I think it would have taken half the time. I wrote a little card to Baby G thanking her for coming to my party and sent it off in the mail. They were well received and I can't wait to see her in them!

Naturally, the deets have all been Rav'd.

Yarn Along

Ginny at Small Things hosts a "yarn along" every week. She shares a photo of her current knitting/crocheting project with the book she is currently reading.

I'm in the midst of a massive project and a really busy time at work. This quick post idea seems like the perfect way to share the happier, more peaceful moments I manage to grab! :)

I'm using remnants from Jack's hexi-blankie to make these little elephants, which will become a mobile for over his crib. I'm so late finishing but I plan to give it to him & his mommies this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm just starting the 3rd of the Mysterious Benedict Society books. I love this series. It's written for a 4th-6th grade level, I'd guess, but it's really interesting. I'm so happy Prisoner's Dilemma is finally in paperback!

Be sure to check out this week's Yarn Along post to see what others are working on/reading & share your own!

On another note- Please pray for my little friend Abby (2 yr old daughter of one of my NET brothers). She's having a surgery on her bladder/uterus on Wednesday. Thanks!!

Slouchy Hat

I never wear hats. Ever. I have a huge head, for one, so it's hard to find a hat that will A) fit & B) not look comically tiny once on. But the other day I went to the store and my hair looks like a rats nest and I wished I had one of those oh-so-in-style-right-now slouchy hats that I could hide my hair under. Wouldn't you know it? Some girl with curly hair walked by and had one on and she looked awesome. Sigh. Major hat envy.

So last night I decided to make one. The boys brought me some bulky wool yarn from their trip to Iceland. It was a really thoughtful gift but... um... it's BULKY. And it's got little flecks of different colors in it. And it's NOT merino so my slight wool allergy goes crazy feeling it scratch me. So no making anything that's going to touch my skin. Oh... but it'll make a good hat!

So while watching reruns of friends I made a Gumdrop Slouchy Hat. It's a SERIOUSLY easy pattern by Julie from Gleeful Things (cute blog. check it out.). I decided to go with a crochet pattern because I wanted to be able to finish quickly (in case I hated the way it looked) and have more control over the size. I still have a fear of adjusting knitting patterns. That wound up being good because I did make a few small mods to fit my monster head better.

Here's me:

Here's the hat from the back:

Eagle eyes will be able to spot the "seam" pointing about 1o'clock on my head. I don't think it's THAT noticable, but I might make sure to have it run down the bottom in the future. 

Over all I'm really pleased. I think it's a style I can pull off. I might be trying a few fancier designs soon.

Oh, and of course it's been Rav'd. 

BUSY BUSY BUSY

That's what I've been- busy busy.

My Crochet 101 class went well- except that they stuck us in the back of the school and the classroom door was locked well past the start time. Once we got going it was great though. Such neat ladies. I hope to see them this summer in my fun new classes.

I have be knitting up a storm for my bestie's baby to be. Although I also have another friend and two cousins who are pregnant, Baby J is already my favorite. That's horrible, isn't it? But what can I say? Mommy & I have been super-close friends for more than 10 years. This baby is close to my heart.

I should show you all those baby projects, but next up is going to be a crochet project I promised to review. I'm excited to get going on it. Can't wait to let you in! I just need to finish up that damn second sock (I swear ALL socks will be done 2 at a time from now on!) and the most adorable little sweater you'll ever see.... assuming I can learn colorwork all by myself!

What are you working on?

New Class Schedule

My new classes have officially been approved by LA Harbor College Extension! Check out my "Classes & Events" page for detailed information. Feel free to contact me at liacreates [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions. To sign up, please follow the link to the Extension program website.

Pardon My Rant

Have you noticed sort of a sibling riverly between crocheters and knitters? I've seen it a lot on Ravelry but never experienced it in my personal life until last week. I went to a local yarn shop for the first time on Thursday. When I walked in I had my crocodile clutch (which has been my constant companion since I finished it) and as has happened every time I've gone out with it in public- a lady at the shop asked about it. She was a customer working on a knitting project. I could tell she was a relatively new knitter. She asked if it was easy to make. I replied it was actually pretty easy if you knew how to crochet. She asked the shop owner if she had a pattern that was similar and that's when it happened.... The owner replied "No. We're a knitting shop." Um. Ok. She turned around to me and said "Of course, crocheters are welcome, but we just don't sell any crochet patterns.... or supplies.... and we don't teach it." Yeah. Was that supposed to make me feel better about it? I honestly felt like leaving, but I thought that would seem petty or something. I ended up buying a few little odds & ends for a swap I'm in this month and at the last minute asked about the "ongoing free sock class" I had read about on their website. The owner said she had a pattern that used Malabrigo Worsted & size 6 dpns, so it was easier to learn before moving down to sock weight yarn and spaghetti-thin needles. I ended up spending quite a bit there once I paid for the dpns (size 8s for me and my apparently tight knitting), the yarn and the pattern. In the meantime I chatted with the other customer about Ravelry and gave her my email address if she wanted to learn to crochet. I was also kind of miffed about the pattern. The owner admitted it was written as though you were in a class. This probably explains why I got confused on the heel once I was home. It uses short rows, but didn't say that, so I just thought the stitch count was off. So for a not-totally-clear pattern the $6.50 price I paid seemed REALLY high. Maybe I'm spoiled by all the free patterns available, but that seemed really steep. So imagine my annoyance when I logged the pattern into Ravelry & saw that the download is only $4 there! STILL too high, if you ask me, but that's almost 40% less! Are they charging me that much for the 3 pieces of paper and the sheet protector? I didn't need that! What's MORE annoying is that we had been talking about Rav, so she really could have just showed me how to do a circular join & start me on my ribbing and then give me the option to go on Rav to buy the pattern. I had dpns full of worsted weight yarn- what else was I going to do with it? I would HAVE TO download her pattern. Now I'm perplexed. The shop has some great yarns at reasonable prices. They have a weekly knitting night, which I'd LOVE to join. It's relatively close, there's drive-through Starbucks on the way & it's near the cemetary so I can visit mom and kill two birds with one stone. But the anti-crochet attitude and the weird pattern issue really bother me. I can't decide how I feel about the shop. I'm thinking of maybe scoping out some other local shops and seeing if one's a better fit. What would you do?

For the Easter Baby

My friend from church just gave birth to her first (much anticipated) baby. She and her husband are high school sweethearts and I'm so happy for them.

The mommy was also a member of Lambs of God Household at her Catholic college. (Households are kind of like sororities.) So.... Spring baby + Lambs.... I had to make something cute.

It started with the hat:

I used Vanna's choice in pink for the inside of the ears, which reminded me I still had a blanket I used that same yarn in...

So I thought if I just added a set of booties & some little mittens I'd have my favorite gift in the world... a whole baby set!

I'm SO looking forward to dropping it off tomorrow! I hope mommy & daddy love it.

Japan

On Thursday night the NET team came in. They all had dinner with me & then the girls spent the night while the guys went around the corner to stay at the home of one of my church friends. The guys came back for breakfast in the morning.

I was in a daze Friday because I literally stayed up the entire night watching the tsunami coverage on my laptop. I'm horrified at the loss of life and the incredible damage to that beautiful country.

It seems crafting- particularly crocheting & knitting- is joined tightly at the hip with charity. I don't know any crochet/knitters who haven't lifted a hook or needles to make a premie hat or afghan square or scarf for the homeless at some point. So it's no surprise that there have been tons of posts on Ravelry lately asking how we can help & where to send blankets/sweaters/hats...

The truth is, I don't know that any of that is going to help at the moment. In fact, while I've earmarked money for donation, I haven't actually donated yet because so few aid organizations are actually able to get into Japan at the moment. This article explains some of the reasons to wait a little while.

There are some ways to donate that are immediately helpful. The Huffington Post lists a bunch of organizations taking action and in need of our support.

But for those of you itching to stitch up something special right away for Japan, I've found one way to do it so far. If you knit socks, this guy is accepting sock donations. I'm sure he intends for people to buy socks and mail them, but who wouldn't love a pair of handknit socks at a time like this? Wool would be great because it stays warm when wet, too.

If, like me, you can't knit socks, I'd suggest making something for auction/raffle and donating the money.

Have you found any other creative ways to help Japan? Please share!

Lent

Sometime just before Advent last year I came across this great project on Ravelry. This lovely lady made a premie hat every day of Lent & donated them to a local hospital.

I've thought about it often since and was very happy to start up on Ash Wednesday! I'm a fast crocheter, though, so I've modified it a little.

I'm still making a hat a day, but some are premie hats (going to the NICU at my friend's hospital) and some are full term which I'm contributing to Bundles of Joy on Rav. They make all kinds of knitwear for the OB Ward at the Pine Ridge Hospital. There's a lot of poverty on the reservation and most people don't have anything to take their newborns home in, so I'm excited to be making full-term baby hats for them as well.

Even the full term hats only take about 15 minutes so when I feel like crocheting more I'm also making some little jackets, mittens and maybe booties. All of those will probably go to Bundle of Joy.

In the next few weeks I'll be sharing some other charitable knit/crochet projects I'm planning to work with! If you know of any worthy causes, let me know! I think I'd like to continue a commitment to charitable crochet/knitting throughout the year.

Recent Projects

I've been a bad blogger but a pretty good crafter. Life has been pretty busy, with the NET team coming next week, several baby showers, work being a little crazy & my own stuff going on. I hope to have time to go over all the fun things I've been making in detail soon... but in the meantime, here's a quick run down of the knitted & crocheted items I've completed recently:

Forest Vest

Made for Baby Flores. This is actually the first knit item I've ever cast off! I was pretty pleased to have completed it. There's some MAJOR flaws, but I still really like it. I've been on the hunt for good semi-solid/tonal yarns ever since this project. If you know of any good ones PLEASE let me know!

Granny Love

Made for Baby G. I took some grannies I've had for a while and put them together into a quick blanket. I love the retro feel.

Cuddly Sweater

Also for Baby G. Man... I love me some KnitPicks Comfy. It's so soft and has great stitch definition. This project was SUCH a learning experience. I had to rip back about 6 rows at one point!

Frilly Scarf

I just wanted something to throw on that would add some classy interest to my everyday wear. I've been wearing it pretty often and I love the femininity.

Rainbow Clutch

Remember when I talked about Knit Picks Chroma making me break my "no stash buying" rule? Well... this is what some of the Prism colorway ended up as. It's a pattern test for a gal on Ravelry. I'll go into detail on the project & include a link to the pattern once she's done with it.

What have you been working on?

Upcoming Classes

Each class I have at LA Harbor College gets better & better. I love all the ladies who've joined me and they always have great ideas for new classes. So I went ahead and submitted some class ideas to the coordinator and they were all approved!

Next semester I will be having all of the following classes:

Introductory Crochet (which I've been teaching already)
Absolutely basic class. You can come in with no knowledge of crochet at all & walk out able to make tons of basic projects!

Intermediate Crochet- Mastering the Granny Square

We'll demystify the math behind the traditional granny square and learn some variations. Then it's time to dive into many different projects and learn various ways to join & border your squares! You'll need to know how to chain, single crochet & double crochet.

Beginning Amigurumi

Your knowledge of just the single crochet will help you make lots of little friends! We'll learn shaping techniques, how to invisibly attach limbs and give them facial features full of expression and life!

Crochet Lab

By popular request, this is a class in the loosest sense of the term. Bring in a project you're working on or a pattern you'd like to tackle and I'll help you work out the kinks! I'll have some tools on hand for purchase that can make your crocheting easier, too.

If you've been in my class before and don't see your class idea above, let me know! I've decided to just dive into the whole teaching thing because I really love it.

If you teach and have any ideas you'd like to share, PLEASE do so in the comments! I've got several classes under my belt at this point, but I always want to improve my teaching techniques.

First Class of 2011

Check out my Classes & Events tab. I'll be teaching at LA Harbor College again this year.

For those who have taken Intro to Crochet... I am working on an intermediate & advanced course. I'm working out the details with LAHC and should have them available next semester!

Ugly Christmas Scarf

As promised, here's a picture of the Ugly Christmas Scarf. This baby got a lot of use in the two weeks leading up Christmas through New Year's Eve.

I'm wearing it here on Christmas Day, playing with the Bucky Balls I gave my cousin for Christmas. Well, I insisted I wasn't "playing" with them (because that would make me a nerd like her) but I was obsessed with getting them back into the cube shape they were packed in. It's really hard, but now that I figured it out I always have to "clean them up" if I see anyone put them down.

Words of Wisdom

I came across this great quote in the depths of the Ravelry forums today:

Crocheting is like sex: If I love you, I'll do it for free. If I don't love you, you can't pay me enough.

I'd like to add: If you want me to do something I'll enjoy, I'll do it gladly. If you try to make me do something I don't enjoy, I'll punch you in the groin.

Gifts of Wine & Love

I have a huge stash of wine. It started on a trip to the Bay in February. The first weekend was my friend's birthday and 20 of his closest friends piled into a mini-bus & went to four wineries in Napa.

I stayed the rest of the week with my cousin & the following weekend my gay husband & his partner came up to celebrate their anniversary. They're a unique couple & like to share a lot of their lives with their friends. So when they invited me wine tasting in Sonoma, I was all over it. Since it was their special weekend, I hired a driver to take us around. With only 3 of us we ended up hitting NINE wineries.

Anyhow, two weekends of tastings made me really open up to new types of wine. My pallet had matured since my first experiences with wine and I really appreciated different varietals. I went crazy. I started buying from Wine Woot on almost a weekly basis.

The problem is, I don't DRINK wine that often. I live with a recovered alcoholic & a 22 year old who drinks anything but wine. So now I want to thin it out a bit. Luckily, there's lots of hostess gifts and Christmas presents in there! But of course, I can't just leave it at that. The bottles must be wrapped & have a little crochet love in there too.

I used Lucy's Snowflake Pattern, which is so easy & adorable. After the last round I chained 80, slipstitched into the 5th chain from the hook & did another snowflake so they're connected. It took maybe 15 minutes while watching The Joy Luck Club (so factor in time for sniffling and wiping away tears!). I'm using some Knit Pick's Comfy in fingering weight which I have an ungodly amount of. It would look so much prettier in something with a little sparkle, like maybe Bernat Baby Coordinates. Now that I say that, I think I might have some buried in my stash somewhere. I'll have to fish it out.

As you can tell, I'm getting really into the whole Christmas wrapping thing. Expect more gift wrapping posts... including photos of my friend's upcoming Christmas Wrapping Extravaganza on Friday!

How are your Christmas plans going?

An Old Skool Christmas

My WIPs are out of control, but I had an overwhelming need to make something very Christmas-y with an old, vintage-y vibe.

What I came up with is just about done after just a day. I'll have completed pictures sometime this weekend, but in the meantime here's a sneak peek...

Oh Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the evening light, how I love thee.

hilarious

Yarn over yarn over chain one two three!

I'll be at LAHC tomorrow teachin' folks how to crochet in-the-round to make some fun coffee cup sleeves just in time to stuff some stockings. I'm super excited.