Blizzard 2010

Right before 2010 ended, NJ was hit by a blizzard...I think we got like 25 inches of snow.  Here are some photos I took the night before the snow ended....

The view from my front door...that's my neighbor's car and our stairs...which don't look much like stairs at the moment.

This is what I saw as I opened my door....

Notice the snow still falling?

One of the doors to the laundry room the day after.

That garage at the end is mine...yep, my car is in there.  I don't own a shovel, so I had to wait for my complex to finally un-plow-me-in.

It got really windy that night.  As I went for a walk the snow was blowing everywhere!!

Our town plowed semi-well......

Welcome 2011, hope you bring lots of crafty time!

It is 2011 and I still have projects started "last year" (and years ago) to finish.  I've made some crafting resolutions to finish as many WIPs (works in progress) as I can this year.  I very much need to finish the blanket that I started for myself in 2008 when I was moving to my apartment....that's the rainbow stripe one that I blogged about in July of 2010.  All the strips are done and a few are sewn together, but I need to finish sewing the rest and the put a border on them.  Another craft resolution is to organize my stash better and to DESTASH more....seriously, my one bedroom apartment is slowing being taken over by yarn and other crafty things.

But on to the new projects!  I still am finishing up my mom's Christmas Blanket...well I should say working on it, not finishing it up.  It is taking a while, but at least I've gone through one set of balls of yarn....I think I bought 5 sets of the 3 colors.....woo.  I posted about it at the end of my last project post (maybe 2 posts ago).  Since that post I've completed a few projects :)


My mom requested a quick scarf for a woman at her school.  This is knit in seed stitch holding 4 strands of yarn together on US 50 knitting needles :)

This pink scarf was made for my friend Steph (she also does my hair yay!!!).  It is a combo of the "Amy" scarf I've made before and the "Mega Cabled Scarf."  Knit on US 17 needles it is knit in k1p1 ribbing with cables, making it reversible!

Scarf for a friend.  He liked a scarf I had from Express, so I mimicked the pattern and viola a very wide/long scarf.

This is maybe my 4th pair of fingerless gloves/mittens.  Made for Matty :).  They are an alpaca blend and very soft and in a nice neutral color.  Just what Matt likes!  Given during the Blizzard of 2010 they came in handy in the snow!

Little lion for my cousin Corinne :).  She fell in love with my mom's--when I got her name in our family secret santa, I knew that I just had to include a lion as part of the gift!

Last year I made my mom dish towels with a crocheted edging.  This year I decided to applique some flowers on towels for her.  I think they came out nicely and made a wonderful quick gift!

Here is the 3rd and final monster (aka my artistic interpretation of a Zergling) for Sue.   She was very happy with them, and enjoyed playing with them at the Cheesecake Factory :).

I have at least one other project that I can't blog about yet, because I still haven't given it away!

Much more crafting to come in 2011!!! (as well as more blogging!)

12 sleeps 'til Christmas!

I seriously cannot believe it is December 13th already.  I'm *so* running out of time with my holiday presents.  I've already told my mom that I'm going to have to give them to her after Christmas because they are just not going to be done in time.  I'm really trying to quickly prioritize my list and make things as quick as I can, but sometimes that just doesn't work so well.

My mom's blanket is coming along....I've almost gone through an entire skein of one color....I hope this is long enough for the final project.  We will see I guess....or I will buy more yarn.  Good thing is that I think Red Heart Soft Yarn is a "no dye lot" yarn so I won't have to worry about matching lots....and the way the colors alternate it shouldn't matter too much if the color isn't matched exactly.

My mom's punch needle is also coming along.  Unfortunately I didn't have much time to work on it this past week because I had final projects looming over my head.  I missed the deadline for Michaels to get it framed.  Perhaps I can make the deadline for A.C. Moore.  Or maybe frame it myself?  Hmmm, idk.  I need to think of a creative way to present the unfinished project as a Christmas gift.

I'm happy that I did decide to purchase gifts online this year.  I have a nice little bag of growing gifts that I will just have to wrap up!! :)

Hopefully after today it will be better for me.  My one class definitely ends this week and my independent might (I'm not sure how those things work anyway...).  I created the cutest book (in my opinion) for my Development of Mathematical Thinking class...I'm tempted to try and post it!!!!

Oh well, best go meet with my advisor now!!!

Christmas decorating 2010

I love the holidays, some years more than others, but overall I love the holidays.  I like to decorate my apartment and just make it as festive as possible!  Right now it smells like pine because I have all different sorts of pine smelling things!!

This year, I decided to make myself a wreath for my door.  I went to Michaels and got a wreath (artificial), two packs of decorative balls on wire, and a nice purple sparkling bow.

After about 30 minutes of careful placing of balls and twisting wires this was the result.  I'm quite happy with it and it now lives on my front door :).

I usually get a bunch of new ornaments each year.  Here are some from this year.

Found these cute bulb looking ornaments at Target along with the candy cane and the wooden owl :).

My Aunt Cathy knows I love owls and picked this up for me.  It is soooo cute!

At the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival in September I picked up this little guy.  It is made from actual fleece :)!

Everyone needs a bear in a scarf :).

Just a pretty colored metal snow flake with bells!  I like the jingling sound!

For Thanksgiving, my Aunt Cathy set each place setting with an angel ornament.  I love it and she is living happily on my tree.

Then I decorate the top of my book cases with various Christmas-ness.  The white bear with the pink hat and scarf is actually dipped in wax that smells like pine.  My mom bought it for me and it smells very good!!

Here is my tree...much better pictures coming soon!  (When I get some time to properly take them).  Even though it is hard to see, I made the bow on top of my tree!

 This is the Nativity under my tree.  It is all crocheted, but I didn't make this.  My mom bought it for me a few years ago at a craft fair before I ever had made amigurumi :).

Once I finish school for the semester, I will post better pictures (aka hopefully more artistic) photos of my decorations!! :)

I'm ok!

So my last update was about a month ago, right before my surgery.  Well my surgery went well and I'm basically all recovered!  When I was recovering I had a lot of time to be crafty!


I finished a baby blanket for one of the teachers at my mom's school....

Made a hat just "because"....it looks a bit odd on my head however, but c'est la vie.

 My friend really likes the game Starcraft and she asked me to make her plushies that looked (as close as I could get to the "Zergling")....these are two of them.

Also made this hat for Chris's birthday.

My other friend asked me to make her a "Sackboy" from the game Little Big Planet, this is the one I made using Alan Dart's pattern for sackboy.

Here is a hat and scarf set made for one of my mom's friend's daughters for Hanukkah.

 Made this scarf as a present for one of my friends.  It is a combination of the "Amy" pattern found on Ravelry and the "Mega Cabled Scarf" also found on Ravelry.

And this is the beginning of my mom's blanket for Christmas :).  She got a lovely new comforter and I'm making something to match.  Her comforter is green with white, cream, and a bronzey brown running through it, so I figured these colors would match nicely!  Hopefully I finish it in time.....and if not, it will be a present for Orthodox Christmas (which is our *real* holiday).

Long over due update!

Hello all you wonderful people in cyberland :).  It has been quite a while since I last posted!  I was really busy studying for my PhD comprehensive examination!  Now that I'm done with that (hopefully I passed *fingers crossed*) I'm not as crazy busy.  I was able to finish a bunch of projects however when I was taking breaks here and there!

I finished a baby blanket for one of my friends:

Finished my purple chunky braided scarf:

 Knit a cowl and a large button hat (even though I look kinda weird in hats....)

Finished my fall floaty scarf:

I also knit my interpretation of a gallbladder because on Monday I have to have mine removed :( and I want one to keep forever!  It probably isn't real size, but I'm going to bring it with me to the hospital, hopefully it will make the doctor laugh!

I also went pumpkin picking and to a corn maze!  You can see the pumpkin picking photos on my flickr :)!

Oh, and I participated in my first 5K on 10/30/10!  I ran/walked and did the whole thing in 40 minutes and 6 seconds.  I know it isn't a really fantastic time, but I'm proud of it on my first try!

Also, I dressed up as Hermione for Halloween :) I made the costume a few years ago and figured it would be fun to answer the door in costume :)