Dish towels!

In an attempt to decrease the amount of yarn that I have stashed (aka "destash") I'm trying to find little projects to knit and crochet (quickly) that will be useful and help me use up my yarn. (So I can ultimately get more..shhhh).  Well, I found a wonderful pattern to make dish towels!  At my mom's house we always had a towel hanging on the fridge.  Sort of a "clean hands only" towel to use rather than always drying your hands with a paper towel.  Usually these were an actual towel that had a crocheted top section to allow it to be buttoned around the fridge handle.  I've tried knitting a towel like this before, but the pattern I picked was mostly stockinette stitch which ended up curling when it was on the fridge and it didn't seem absorbent or soft etc.  So recently I came across this pattern.  Funny enough, my mom noticed the first (curling) towel I had knit and fell in love with the idea of it.  So, I decided to knit her one using the new pattern that I found.

This is the result:

I used some cream colored yarn that I had and a sage green colored yarn to accent it with (it looks a bit darker in the picture than it is in person).  My mom's kitchen has both colors in it, so I figured it would go nicely and if she really hated it, it also matches my kitchen.  Well, she loved it!  It is very soft, does not roll, and is absorbent!  Sooooo, I decided to knit one for myself as well :).

There are definitely more of these planned in my future! I think a set of these would make a nice addition to a house warming gift!

Obsessed!

For the past week I've become sort of obsessed with a pattern for a crocheted bag.  Yep, a crocheted bag.  The pattern is from Purl Soho and published in the Purl Bee blog.  You can find the pattern here.  This bag/basket is GENIUS!  It has a marvelous construction and is amazingly stretchy.  I seriously cannot believe how much stuff I can fit into one basket!  I have visions of storing all sorts of things in these baskets!  Watch out friends, I bet you'll be getting these for gifts! :)

Here are two I've made this past week.  I used up some of my Red Heart Super Saver stash that I had around.  They take about a skein and a half to make the entire bag and can be made in a day, I imagine.

So here is the first bag that started the obsession.  I put a bunch of different yarn that I had in random bags in my bedroom into it.  

I just cannot believe how much I could fit into that bag!  8 skeins of Vanna's colors, 6 skeins of Cotlin, 4 skeins of Felici sport, 2 skeins of Felici fingering, and 1 skein of Chroma worsted...and I'm sure I could have fit more!

I really liked how the colors flowed into this bag.  I'm usually not a fan of crocheting with variegated yarn, but this just really worked for me!  Also, the beauty in this pattern (if you're using variegated yarn) is that you cannot see where the yarn change was made.  The pattern doesn't really allow for a uniform pooling of colors, which is great for using up multiple skeins!

Here is the second one.  There is definitely room in this bag for more! I think I have over 26 skeins of comfy sport in it and I know it can take more!

I seriously love love love these bags!!! :)

I am titanium!

Hey blogland....long time no see. I've been quite the busy bee lately with school things--my dissertation proposal defense is tomorrow!  I do hope to get some crafty time in soon. I've big dreams for the Ravelympics! :).
In other news, I've acquired a new accessory for the time being....hopefully it gives me luck tomorrow!

Baby things

It seems as if a lot of my friends are pregnant, which is quite exciting! I've been trying to make things for their new arrivals in my very limited spare time....some things are still in the works!  Two of my coworkers, including one of my bosses, are expecting.  So, for one of them I knit a little bunny buddy blanket and for the other (my boss) I crocheted a blanket, knit 3 baby bibs, and made a "I'm the big brother" shirt for her son.

Crocheted flower wreath

I've sort of had a hiatus from blogging during the past couple months, but I promise I have been alive and well!...just very very busy!  I've tried to squeeze some small projects in between lots of research, working on my dissertation, and conferences!  So without further ado, I introduce to you my new spring/summer wreath!

I made this wreath using a flower pattern that you can find here.  The leaves are actually little hearts that aren't really connected at the top of the heart.  For those, I modified this heart pattern.  I'm very pleased with the overall result!  The wreath is from A.C. Moore, I believe it is made from grape vines....FYI, it will leave a mess in your house when you work with it.  If anyone decides to make one, definitely assemble it outside!

Cozy Things

I just stumbled upon this blog and I'm in love!  I love this blanket so so so much :).  (Just a very quick post!) Happy blog reading!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This cute Matryoshka doll was part of my Valentine's Day gift to my mom :). She absolutely went crazy for her!! Maybe I need to make the rest of her "sisters" :-D! Happy Valentine's Day!!

Fish....to sushi....to fish....to sushi....to...

Fish to sushi! Does this mean it is vegan? (it is acrylic yarn...) :)

You can find the pattern here.

Super Bowl Sunday!

First, woohoo GIANTS!!!! Way to play that game!

During the game I knit a scarf :), yep, an entire scarf!  Maybe it's good luck if I knit during the game ;).  This scarf is for my friend Lindsey who is in Japan for a year.  I made it to go along with the "Really Warm Hat" that I posted about here.  She really likes green and hot pink, so in the scarf there is green and hot pink along with some yellow and a cream.  I think it coordinates nicely :).

I also finished the pink ruffles baby blanket for my friend.  I'm totally happy with how it turned out.  Gives me some ideas for blankets I want to make and sell in my Etsy store (once I have more free time...aka when I have my PhD ;)).

Lastly, I reknit the Make-a-Statement hat for my mom.  As I thought the first one was too small for her head. Soooooo, I made this one this week during my commute :).  She LOVES it!

That's all for now! I hope to finish some more stuff as this week goes on.  I also submitted another grant proposal for my dissertation and I'll hear back tomorrow about whether or not I got accepted to another conference!  Fingers crossed for the grant especially!!!

Make-a-statement hat

Well, I finished knitting this hat on the train this morning and I'm disappointed. It's too short (I think) and sort of snug. I think I might frog and knit it again. I need to see how it fits my mom. I've a large head, but I think my mom's is larger. We will see.