Life is a cycle. Even in the coldest, darkest, desolate times beauty can be found. Look to nature for hope; it serves as a reminder that better days will come and life will continue. Don't overlook all of life's miracles. 

Fruit Cozy with Ties

I created this pattern because I was looking for a type of fruit cozy that could be adjusted to fit different sized fruit and did not include buttons.  It is free on my Ravelry store too!  If you make them, let me know.  I would love to see your finished products!!

Fruit Cozy with Ties

This is a crochet pattern for a fruit cozy with ties.  It can be adjusted to fit different size fruit.  Ties may be placed where desired.

Yarn: Worsted weight

Hook size: G-6

Stitches & abbreviation used
sc: single crochet
hdc: half double crochet
dc: double crochet
sl: slip stitch
ch: chain
sc2tog: single crochet two together
adjustable ring (see http://www.stitchdiva.com/custom.aspx?id=54 for a good tutorial)

Special stitches:
Make tie: [ch 21, sl in 2^nd chain from hook and across (20 sl)]. 
Directions

Round 1: Begin using the adjustable ring, ch 3 (counts as dc), 14 dc in ring. Sl to chain 3 of beginning chain.  (15 dc)

Round 2: Ch 3 and dc in same stich. 2 dc in each dc around.  Sl to chain 3 of beginning chain. (30 dc)

Round 3: Ch 2, hdc in back loop only (BLO) around.  Sl to top chain of ch 2. (30 hdc).

**From here on do not join rounds, work back and forth in rows**

Round 4: Ch 2, hdc in BLO around, DO NOT JOIN (30 hdc). Turn.

Round 5: Ch 2, hdc in front loop only (FLO) around.  DO NOT JOIN. Turn (30 hdc).

Rounds 6-9: Repeat rounds 4 & 5 two more times.  (add more repeats if you wish to make a taller cozy).

Round 10: Ch1, sc2tog around, BLO (15 sc). Turn

Round 11: Ch 1, sc FLO around (15 sc). Turn.

Round 12: (edging round)

• ·      Ch 1, sc in both loops across (15 sc).
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Place 8 sc on edge of cozy around opening, until you reach the 6^th round.  [If you want to place ties in a different position, sc until you get to that spot].
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Sc around until you reach 6^th round on other side of cozy.
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sc in last stitch you sc’d in.
• ·      Sc until you reach top of cozy.
• ·      Make tie.
• ·      Sl in 1^st sc of the 12^th round.

Finishing: Cut yarn and bind off.  Weave in ends.

Please help me raise money

In April, I will be walking with the Cancer Crushers in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women to support cancer research.  This is a terrible disease and needs to be eliminated for good. Please help me by donating--even $1 or $5 dollars helps! 

Thank you so much!!

You can access the donation page by clicking here.

Northern NJ Yarn Crawl

Recently I and knittylindsey and I participated in the Northern NJ Yarn Crawl.  This event took place February 19-21st and we crawled on the 19th and 20th.  In those 2 days we visited 6 different yarn shops.  There were raffles, discounts, free yarn (at some shops) and chances to win prizes!!!

I think my favorite store that we visited was The Blue Purl located in Madison, NJ.  I just loved the atmosphere of this shop.  It was roomy yet quaint and had some of the prettiest yarns I've seen.  I wish I took pictures in the store :).  Since I already have quite an extensive yarn stash, I decided to only purchase 2 skeins of Madelinetosh DK to make another Honey Cowl.  The color way is called glided and I'm completely in love with it!

From there we went to The Stitching Bee in Chatham, NJ.  This shop was packed with yarn from ceiling to floor.  It was smaller than The Blue Purl, but still fun!  They even gave us free sock yarn and a pattern here!  I purchased 2 skeins of Berroco Vintage to probably make another cowl :).

Free yarn :) for the socks

The final stop for 2/19 was in Morristown at Accents on Knits.  This store was much different than any other yarn store I had ever visited.  Here, they had all of the yarn organized by color rather than brand.  It was pretty to look at, but confusing to navigate.  The prices were at the end of each aisle on a laminated paper and you had to look up the yarn to figure out the price.  However, they did have a room of sale yarn :) which was a lot of fun to dig through.  I ended up buying one skein of Kudo yarn.  I've never tried this yarn before, so it should be fun experimenting with it.  Also, they offer a new customer discount of 10% I believe and I think they had some sort of discount on the day of the crawl :).

Sunday 2/20 we went out again, this time exploring all of the shops close to home, in Montclair :).

First stop was Modern Yarn.  Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite yarn shops because the staff is not friendly nor helpful.  Perhaps I always catch them on a bad day....Anyway, I didn't buy any yarn here :) only entered into the raffle!

Next stop was at Stix-n-Stitches my favorite yarn store in Montclair!!!  I just love how friendly the staff is and their yarn.  I chose a nice cotton called Luna by Cascade :).  It was on sale and I bought all they had in this color way.  I think I might make a vest out of it or some sort of wearable for myself :).

Finally, our last stop of the day and also of the crawl was at Connie Sloan's Needle Craftique which is located on Valley Road in "The Mews" which is a little area off the beaten path of the street.  It is a quaint store with a lot of yarn.  Here I got a yarn called Ruca by Aranucania.  It is made from sugar cane and is very very soft.  I hope to knit either an open work scarf with it or a shall for myself :).  

This was a very fun time and I'm so happy I got to spend the day with Lindsey and do the crawl!  I spent a bit more than I should have, but now I have a good amount of lovely yummy and delicious yarn!!!  Can't wait to craft it all up!

Rainbow blanket is finally done!!!!!!

DSC_0647
Originally uploaded by scullybubbles322

Yep, that's right!!!! The blanket that I started ALLLLL the way back in the summer of 2008, had to take apart over New Years Eve 2008/New Years Day 2009 and restart is FINALLY done!!!


Sick days are good for relaxing and getting things done! It fits on the top of my bed and looks wonderful! I <3 it!

Stitch markers

My very good friend Lindsey recently had a birthday.  As her gift, I decided to make her a set of 9 stitch markers.  They were pretty fun and simple-ish to make once I got the hang of them and got the correct length "head pins."  To make them you need some sort of ring--I used the circular part of a toggle clasp, head pins to put beads on, beads, round nosed pliers, and wire cutters.  I also used flat head pliers (not actually sure that is their name...but the head was flat lol) to hold the toggle/head pin as I wrapped it around itself.  Once I figured out how to properly hold what I was making it got easier.  I didn't write up a tutorial for them, but you can find a good one here.

And for the final result....drum roll please......

All nine markers--3 orange, 3 teal, 3 purple.

NYC HDR

So I recently learned about a program to create HDR photographs.  HDR stands for high dynamic range and has to do with allowing a greater difference between the light and dark areas of a photograph.  It can be created from using multiple images shot at different exposures and then mapping them together or it can be done with software like NIK HDR (which is what I've been playing with).

I only have a 15 day trial, but I've really enjoyed it so far.  Obviously I need to work on getting the HDR better, but here are some samples I've worked on.

NYC skyline before and after:

Amsterdam Avenue before and after:

Pepsi can before and after:

Mossy log before and after:

Rose before and afters (two different images):

1/12th of 2011 done!

I think I've had a pretty productive 2011 so far--in crafting, school, and life!  I've been working on a few new projects and I've been commissioned to make two more baby blankets for the first half of the year ;) YES!

I have a deadline of March coming up for blankets for twins--a boy and a girl.  I'm not a fan of giving very gendered gifts myself, but my mom wanted a "boy" colored blanket and a "girl" one....so I do what my mom says (well, when they are for her friend hehee).  I'm just about done with the "boy" one and have started the "girl" one.

The "boy" one :)

Beginning of the "girl" :).

I've also been busy on the train working on my accordion scarf! Interning 3 days a week plus going to see my advisor at least once a week makes for a lot of time commuting!  Especially with all this snow...lol things are delayed!  I took this picture a few days ago, I'm actually further along!

Oh and not related to yarn per say (except that I *was* knitting as I was waiting for the class to begin....) I participated in the 90 minute challenge at CKO on 1/15/11.  It was awesome as usual.  Each trainer trained us for 10 minutes and kept switching.  Class is usually 60 minutes and you can burn at least 800 calories, so 90 minutes is quite the challenge!

Annnnnnd, since I don't like to make things easy or back down, this past Monday night I created my own "120 minute challenge."  I took two back to back classes with my favorite trainer (and in my opinion one of the harder ones).  My friend Steph and I rocked the two hours...I feel so good that I wish I could do that EVERY single day!

This is "my" bag....I <3 it.  I've kicked off 3 to date....

And I've officially started work on my dissertation!  Last semester was sort of a preview of what I thought I'd be doing, but now it is official!  My advisor even estimates that I might be able to have my proposal done by the end of the semester, which would be fantastic!  The research has to do with causal inference and the effect of being place into a remedial course (or some other sort of course that placement occurs by using a cut score) on students that are virtually the same except being placed differently.  More to come when I have more written out :).

Scheming and dreaming...

There are a bunch of things in the works for this underground hooker ;-).  Look for updates!!!

Ahem...Craftini Marini! :)

Interchangeable Needle Sets

I think that I would like to buy a set of interchangeable needles. They are good to have so you don't need to buy a ton of different circular needles. I have a few pairs of circulars, but I find myself buying the same needle size with different cable lengths, which is kind of a waste. It would be much better to have one set of needle tips that you can change with different cable lengths. This way, not only do you save space, but you know you have a set all ready to go with various cable sizes! No more running to A.C. Moore or Michaels to get a different size cable!

Well, anywho, I digress a little. I've been looking at the Knit Picks sets cause I like that company and they look nice :). The sets are kind of expensive and there are different types of needle tips...so it can be confusing what to get. Also, what if, by some strange chance, I don't like working with interchangeable needles....I would have wasted like $80! Well, I found this lovely set today! It comes with three size needles and two different size cables AND each of the needle sizes is a different material. It is like the perfect tester set! AND it is under $20. SO cool! I might have to get this in the near future :).

TRY IT Needle Set from KnitPicks.com