Long time no post

Okay, it has been over 2 months since I posted. I got busy when I got home from my trip and never did back to it. I'll just leave it at that no need to bore you with the details.

I have been busy and so I have a pictures to share.

I made this shawl for my mother for her birthday. I finished it at the end of May.In June I made a couple of dish clothes and worked on my baby blanket. Here are the two dish clothes I made for a wedding gift for my brother and his beautiful bride. I hope they enjoy them. Here is a doll blanket I made as part of a service project at church. It will go to an orphan some where out there. It is simple but I did use up yarn in my stash! That is always a good thing.

I made some progress on the baby blanket. Here are all of the pieces that I made. Sewing them on is the next step.
In July I finished the blanket. It isn't perfect but I am pleased.

I finished grandma's birthday gift a "thread bowl" vase made from the same yarn I used for her Christmas afgan last year. She loved the colors. I thought it would be great to make a matching vase. She loved it!
I started on Christmas gifts. I figure my family isn't checking this blog (they don't know it exists) so it is okay to show the work in progress. I am making crazy quilt stockings for a few people in my family. This one is for my boyfried Derek. His favorite colors are wine and blue. I decided to make a theme for his stocking. It is still a work in progress. I need to add the decorative stitches, put on the backing and line it. I asked my sister if she wanted one that followed a color theme. She said to make it crazy. I went so crazy with it I can't find the picture to show you.

And then, I made a few more dishclothes. My favorite pattern for the dish cloth is the purple one below. I like how it feels in my hand. I am looking forward to trying out the top one. It was a funny stitch I thought I would try.

I went to the Giant's stitch n' pitch game. It was so much fun. I got to hang out with two of my yarn loving girlfriends, the Giants won and the ladies behind me loved the yarn I was using in one project and my monkey pattern. What more could you ask for at a ball game? The last weekend this month I finally felted the bag I made for my sister's birthday gift. It was exciting to put it out of the washing machine and see how it changed. I might just felt something in the future. I hope she likes the bag.

I have some work in progress. I'll save those for the next post.

Up, up and away . . .

I leave for the air port in two and a half short hours. I decided to take more projects than I can possibly finish. I will have something to work on no matter my mood.

I am taking the baby blanket. I will only work to finish the background. I will do all of the pieces when I get back. I am taking my chemise (it is technically a vest). I will probably finish that. I am taking a shawl I started on a trip to NY City in 2003. Yikes! I hate to admit that. Maybe I'll finish it and maybe I won't but I will work on it. I will also take the first dish cloth that I am making for my brother's wedding.

I won't make a post for a week. There is no internet access at Grandma's. I will enjoy a ton of quiet time and maybe a little time with a hook or two and yarn.

Raiding my stash!

When I moved 8 months ago I realized just how much yarn, fabric and other crafting supplies I have. I love being creative. It is so much easier to create things if you have everything you need. I might just have too much stuff. My new place is much smaller than the last place and I have fewer places to store it. I recently had a few friends over for brunch and did some major cleaning. The yarn hiding behind my massage chair had to move but where will it go? Sadly, I didn’t find a home for it. There is no nook or cranny to hide it and I don’t want to put it back in behind the chair. It is sitting in a bag in my bedroom hiding behind my bed so that guests won’t spot it. This just won’t do. I have got to do something about it. I have made a list of gifts that I will be making this year. Birthdays, wedding showers, and Christmas (Yes! I am thinking about Christmas already). I have made a list of people and things to make. I will need to get yarn for a number of the projects. I am pleased to announce that I broke into the stash for a few of them! Whew. I don’t want to add one more skein to my stash until I have gotten rid of a few.

My mother’s birthday is coming up and so is mother’s day. For her birthday I made a wrap from a lovely rust colored yarn called Symphony. The earthy color will be nice for mom and it was an interesting pattern. I still need to block it but it looks nice. Ten minutes ago I started a beret (I am making up the pattern) to go with the wrap. Mom will be able to wear them together or separately. I hope she like them.

On Wednesday I started working on a hobo bag for my sister. Her birthday will be in September and she didn’t care what color the bag was so I decided to use a lovely variegated merino wool yarn that Mom gave me a few years ago. I am now taking a break on the bag. I am almost out of yarn. I will have to get a complementary color to finish it off. Fortunately this is a hobo bag so I can do pretty much anything. When I am done crocheting the bag I will felt it. I made this bag out of cotton the last time I made it and I didn’t like how much it stretched. Felting it should solve that problem. I think that the variegated part will look amazing. I won’t be able to post pictures of that project until after her birthday (in September). She is computer savvy and will probably find this blog before then.

I better get back to that hat and shrink that stash!