WIP...Thursday (?): Little Pumpkins!

I have SO many things going on lately--craft related and school related.  It feels as if my head is spinning.  I'm doing my best not to neglect my blog :), but I feel like I have a bunch of posts that I want to write and not adequate time to write them!  I do plan on having 2 more patterns for items I designed a while back published sometime very soon.  In case you're curious, they would be for my crocheted couch caddy and my Snuggly Owl (which I apparently never posted about before...).

But...I'm digressing.  The real reason for this post is to share an ADORABLE pattern that I found for a little pumpkin applique.  I found the pattern on Ravelry and you can find it here.  They are cute and simple and quick--which is EXACTLY what I need for my last minute Halloween costume for work.  I'm not going to reveal my actual costume idea, but I did want to show you these cute little pumpkins!  I've made 3 so far and will be making maybe 10 more, I'll see ;).

WIP Wednesday: Staggered Squares Blanket

One of my works in progress, as there are many at the moment, is the Staggered Squares Blanket.  This is the second part of the gift I'm giving to my cousins who are expecting their first baby.  The other part is the orange-and-blue shelled Sheldon the Turtle.  

I usually crochet baby blankets, but I fell in love with this pattern.  I believe it is a Bernat patter that I got free from Michaels.  The yarn I'm using is something that I had in my stash.  It's an acrylic sport weight yarn that is VERY soft.  I was hesitant about using the lacy pattern with this yarn (even though this is one of the yarns that is recommended for this pattern) because I thought that the pattern might get lost among the colors of the yarn.  The larger it gets, the more I like it.  I'm knitting it on US 8s, which is making it go a bit faster than I anticipated.  I can do about 1 pattern repeat (16 rows) during my daily commute (8 rows each way).  I should have this blanket finished by the end of the month if I can keep this pace or make it a bit faster.

I also think that I would make this pattern again because it's fun to do!  I would also probably use a yarn that I could block--perhaps one of the sock yarns from Knit Picks.  I am really happy with this blanket--it is soft and light weight--perfect for this soon-to-come baby!

A post without pictures...

...is not that much fun.  I have been a little absent from the blogosphere lately, so I feel the need to post an update.  Let's see...my last post was about my crocheted summer sweater which was a WIP at the time...now it's a FO! I ended up finishing that sweater on July 8th, but I've yet to take proper pictures of it.  In fact, that is actually the theme of this post...the lack of proper pictures.  I crocheted a set of lotus earrings in a deep purple the other night...but I still need to weave in the ends and take a picture or two.  (Although I think they sort of get lost in my hair because of the color...but I'll see.  They were quick and easy to make, so perhaps I'll whip up another pair soon.)  I'm also working on a summer style vest for myself in sort of a burnt orange color (pictures to come...:)).  I've also been invited to my boyfriend's niece's 1st birthday party this August.  I've decided to make her a Sheldon with a green body and a pink and purple shell.  So far I've the body and legs all finished and just need to make the shell.  This is such a cute turtle!  Annnnnnd I'm knitting a yoga mat bag for Matt!  He joined me at hot yoga on Monday and fell in love with it--it is awesomely wonderful and addicting!  So of course he needs a nice knitted yoga mat bag to hold his new mat! :) (It's blue and in organic cotton...pictures to come :)). 

Finally, back on 6/25 I had finished the ruched tee that I had started the year before (during the interim of the CPH KAL).  It took me so long to finish it because I kept getting distracted with other project.  Well, I wore the tee for the first time on 7/2. I got so many compliments on it!  The only complaint I have is that it grew a I wore it.  Meaning it is now sort of tunic length!  Also the back is a bit saggy and baggy, which I'm not the biggest fan of.  I think that I'm going to crochet a round around the neckline to try and strengthen it up.  I've also read about slip stitch crocheting on the inside of a knitted garment to give it more strength and structure.  I think that I might do this on the ruched sections.  They sort of got less..um...ruchy as the day went on.  So, hopefully that will improve it a bit.  After I do all of that, I plan on washing it in warm to hot water and throwing it in the dryer on a hot setting, in an attempt to shrink it some.  The yarn is 60% cotton 40% modal, so hopefully the cotton part will shrink when I do this.  If not, I'll make it work as a tunic over leggings or skinny jeans.  I'm definitely not frogging this project!  I love the yarn and the look of it on me...I'm just not a fan of the sag.

I guess that's it for now.  I promise to post some pictures of all of these projects! I need to either set up my tripod or get a friend's help to take a picture of me in the sweaters I made!

Oooo and the Ravellenic Games are starting next week!! Hurray!!

WIP Wednesday

One of the things I'm working on is a light-weight crocheted cardigan for spring/summer.  I had started working on this back in April when I was flying to Vancouver.  However it was coming out too small, so I didn't touch it after my flight there.  This week I ended up frogging the progress that I had made during that flight and started again using a larger hook.  This sweater goes SO fast!  I've been trying to only craft on my commutes to and from work/school and on only two commutes I've finished the back and half of one of the front panels!  I think this will be finished really soon and I can't wait to post FO pics!

WIP Wednesday

So, I'm not an impulsive person.  Ask my Mom and my friends.  When making decisions, ESPECIALLY when making purchases, I take my time and never rush into a decision.  (Shopping with me can sometimes become annoying, I imagine, because I put so much thought into my purchases...but c'est la vie.)  Well, the other day I surprised myself with my impulsiveness!  I was in A.C. Moore browsing the yarn (and picking up a few skeins of Vanna's colors which were on sale for $1 each--can't beat that!) and I came across a bag of gray yarn that was SUPER soft and a bag of super soft purple yarn in the "mill ends" section.  I quickly fell in love with them and decided that I'm going to make Sean (my bf) and I a blanket that is just "us"--he loves gray and I love purple.  Sickeningly cute, I  know.  So into my basket they went and I checked out.  I also started the blanket that night!  (It's called Impulsive btw in my Ravelry projects).

I'm using the granny stripes pattern from Lucy of Attic24.  I've used this pattern before for baby blankets and it has always produced lovely results.  I'm not sure how many I chained, but the blanket is just about the width of my full-sized bed.  My original plan was just to crochet until I had finished the two bags of yarn, but when Sean saw my progress he was so excited to use the blanket to cover up with that I decided to go and see if another bag each of the colors existed (which they did).  So now I'm going to crochet until the two bags of yarn is gone.  This should hopefully make a blanket long enough to cover an adult (rather than just be a lap blanket).  I had been crocheting this on the train during my commute, but since it is getting larger I haven't taken it the past few days.  However, it is really growing quickly!!  Here it is in it's current state!  I'm really excited!

WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday! The back of my CPH is done!!!!

WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday!! Even though I'm running to bed (long day) I couldn't forget to update for work(s) in progress Wednesday!!  Here we have a baby blanket that needs all the ends tucked in and my Central Park Hoodie!!