2014: New Year, New Goals!

Happy New Year!  We're now more than a week into 2014, and I've had some time to think about what I'd like to see in the new year.  I have so many crafting goals!  First and foremost is to organize my crafting - the supplies, the projects, everything.  I want to get some OLD WIPs (works in progress) off the needles.  First up is to finish a couple of current projects, and then pick up an afghan from a couple (3?) years ago.

I need to organize the stash and crafting supplies.  It's so hard for me to find anything.  One of my major goals this year is to knit/crochet/spin/weave from stash, so it needs to be organized so that I can find what I need for new projects.  Last year I got a bookcase from Ikea and filled it with cubes.  It works great. 
Each cube is labelled by weight of yarn.  Some weights, such a fingering, have more than one cube.  The only problem is that I don't have enough cubes to store all the stash.  And it only contains the yarn stash, not the fiber stash.


  I still have some large bins with things such as yarn and fiber for dyeing.
  In addition to the bins, I also have some smaller cubes that contain fiber and some sweater quantities of yarn.  The bins and the cubes definitely need to get organized!

  So I have my work cut out for me!  And this is just the yarn and fiber stash, not including beads and fabric.  Those will get organized as well!

As far as what crafting projects I see myself working on in 2014, I'd like to continue with what I have been doing with one exception: I want to spin MORE!  I really enjoy spinning, and I love my Hansencrafts electric miniSpinner that I recently got.  I honestly just need to make it part of my daily routine, even if it means that I set aside the knitting for a little while each day.  As far as projects, I enjoy having a large one such as an afghan or a cardigan sweater on the needles, then also several smaller, more portable projects.  Right now I'm working on a brioche scarf for Tyler and a hat for Alex.  I also like having a pair of socks on the needles all the time, it makes a great on-the-go project for knit groups and waiting in places such doctor's offices or grocery store lines.

Hope everyone is excited for the new year and looking forward to seeing what it will bring!  Happy 2014, everyone!

Alex's New Digs, Part 2

It's been 10 months since I've blogged.  This year has flown by!  So much has happened, and it's been an exciting year.  Alex is moving into his 2nd year of college, and Tyler will be a sophomore in high school.  Tyler has grown so much this year, and not just in height, although he's getting very tall.  He's really seemed to blossom in high school, he has a great core group of friends, and is following up on his interests.  He does really well in all of his classes, but especially in his business classes, and he joined DECA, which is a business club at school.  He even got an award for math, which was a huge deal.  He also recently got his driver's permit and he's been doing very well at practicing driving, although driving a clutch is still a little much for him.

And then there's Alex.  Alex is doing great!  He applied for several co-ops and accepted an offer from one that he was very interested in.  A co-op is similar to an internship.  He will work one semester (this summer), then take classes for a semester (fall), then work for a semester (spring 2014), and then continue with his classes.  It gives him a great opportunity to explore what his interests are, which is computer programming, and see what it's like to work in his field as well as make contacts he can use after college as well.  He is still living on campus, and moved into a new dorm last weekend.  This dorm is an apartment-style dorm.  It has a kitchen, living room area, 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms.  So each 2 bedrooms share a bathroom, and all 4 of them share the kitchen and living room.  For the summer, he only has 1 roommate, but in the fall he will have 3 other roommates.  He's already started cooking, and plans on making most of his meals.  He even has a great view of a courtyard area!

 

Dustin is also doing very well.  He finally found a job in the Atlanta area that he was interested in, so no more commuting to Spartanburg, SC every week!  His new job is about 15 minutes from home.

I'm keeping myself busy busy busy as usual, with all of my crafting.  Currently I'm working on some white summer socks and a lace weight cardigan.  Besides knitting, I've been crocheting, sewing, spinning, weaving, and beading.  I hope to be able to visit Florida this summer as well as North Carolina.  It will likely be just Tyler and myself  and we'll be visiting family, so I know it will be a lot of fun.

Alex's New Place

My oldest son, Alex, just moved out.  He moved to the dorms at Georgia Tech and is taking a couple of summer classes there.  It's a little hard for me, but I'm very excited for him.  He's already settled in and is having a great time.  The guys who live on his floor at the dorms have all formed a band and enjoy playing songs for the girls on the floor below.  The guys also get out of their rooms to go play soccer, basketball and frisbee after dinner.  Alex is meeting a lot of new people and is learning his way all around campus.  I think this is a great way for him to get started on his college life before the frenzy of freshmen start in the fall semester.  We're very glad that he's doing so well!

Tyler is enjoying a fun summer of hanging out and playing video games.  He got to move into his brother's old room in the basement so he's been keeping cool even in the 100+ degree temperatures.

I've been very busy, as usual, with my crafting.  I just finished a short-sleeved cardigan and am working on a pair of beaded socks right now.  And lots of spinning the past few days!  Over on Ravelry, there is an event called "The Tour de Fleece", and the dates coincide with the Tour de France.  You set goals for yourself and try to see if you can make or exceed those goals.  My goals are to spin some new fibers, spin at least 15-20 minutes a day, and spin at least one of my Loop bumps.  The Tour started on June 30th, so I finished up what was on my wheel and yesterday I started on my first Loop bump.






I love the Loop bump!  It drafts so easily and thinly, and the colors are wonderful.  I'm planning on Navajo plying it when I'm done spinning the singles.

I started with the center of the bump, which is a mossy green, and today I finished spinning that color and moved onto a light green and then a pale blue-purple color.  It's so much fun!

Happy crafting, everyone!

Graduation Time

Alex, my oldest son, graduated high school on Thursday evening, May 24th.  It was a really nice ceremony, and here are some pictures of the family with the graduate:

And me and Alex:

And here's one of Alex with his girlfriend Dottie:

Aren't they adorable together?  We are so proud of Alex!  He graduated with honors and a 4.2 GPA.  And I didn't even cry!  I think I'm saving that for when he moves out and starts college.

Tyler is doing great as well, he's happy to be done with middle school and anxious to start high school.  I'm sure he will make lots of new friends!

I've been busy crafting!  Spinning, beading, knitting, and crocheting.  I made my mother some coasters and a dishcloth, and I put them in a cute crocheted basket in the shape of a coffee mug.  She loved it!

I also made the jewelry that I wore to Alex's graduation.  I used Swarovski pearls in a coral color to make a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet.

I just can't believe the boys are out of school and it's summertime!  Happy crafting, everyone!

Graduation Time!

Mother's Day is tomorrow!  Happy Mother's Day to my mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother.  They have all inspired me in one way or another.  I hope to enjoy a quiet Mother's Day at home with my boys.

Speaking of my boys, it's hard to believe, but my oldest baby boy is graduating from high school this year.  He will be attending Georgia Tech, and we're very proud of him.  He wants to study computer science, and there are several areas within computer science that he will also study.  On top of that, my youngest baby boy will be starting high school in the fall.

It's been a busy crafting time as well!  I've been spinning quite a bit, and still feel like I'm learning a lot.  Mostly I've just been practicing getting fiber to the thickness that I would like.  I've also been knitting and crocheting, making everything from a cardigan sweater to a shawl to socks to dishcloths.  I'm currently working on a pair of socks, some coasters and a dishcloth for my mom, and another cardigan sweater.

Happy Crafting, everyone!

Birthday Season

My oldest son turned 18 yesterday.  What a milestone for any parent!  He has become a wonderful young man and we are so proud of him.  I can't believe he will be graduating high school soon!  We found out a few days ago that he got accepted into his first choice for college, Georgia Tech.  It's close by, although he will live on campus, and it is a very highly rated school.  I'm so happy for him!  Next month my other baby boy turns 14, so I feel like both my boys are really growing up!

 

It's birthday season in my household.  My birthday was in February, oldest son's is the middle of March, and also in March is mother-in-law's and father-in-law's birthdays along with my mom's birthday.  Youngest son's birthday is in April, so it's a busy few birthday months!

I have been spinning on my new spinning wheel.  Some time last week I watched yet another tutorial video and it just clicked.  I think I'm doing the short draw or inchworm method,  and I had been trying the long draw method.  The fiber was just fighting with me, and yes I was making yarn, but it seemed a little bit too hard to do.  Once I tried short draw, the fiber seemed to draft so much easier, and it worked so much better.  I still have plenty of thick and thin spots, but it's getting better.  I started using some of my pretty fibers since I may have an allergy to lanolin.  I've been getting a rash on my forearms, and the doctor thinks it could be from the fiber.  The inexpensive fiber that I was using was pretty greasy and still had bits of hay in it, so I may try to wash it and then use it after that.

I'm still working on my Harry Potter Ravelry group projects.  My Lexi Cardigan is coming along well, I'm working on both sleeves right now.  I'm doing them separately but at the same time-a few rows on one, and then a few rows on the other one.  My Lacy Cocoon Sweater is also moving along, the body is done on that and I'm now working on the ribbing band.  Still hoping to have both of these projects done by the end of  March!

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my 43rd birthday today!  It's been an awesome birthday day/weekend.  My mom was here visiting over the long weekend, and she bought me something that I've been wanting for quite a while now...A SPINNING WHEEL!  I had decided on the Lendrum DT Complete, and mom very unexpectedly ordered it for me!  We ordered it on Friday afternoon, it shipped later on Friday, and it's due to arrive any time now.  This is so exciting!  I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to spinning wheels, so there will be a very steep learning curve.  The website that we ordered the wheel from, ParadiseFibers.net, is sending along a free DVD that shows how to put the Lendrum together, and I've also downloaded a basic how-to-spin video.  I don't know that I will show pictures of my first handspun, but hopefully I will quickly get better with some practice!

I'm still working on my Lexi cardigan, I just finished both of the front button bands and I'm about to start on the sleeves.  Also still on the needles is the Lacy Cocoon Sweater, which is my car knitting, so it's coming along slowly.

Happy crafting, everyone!

February Crafty Fun

It's February already!  Time just seems to go by so quickly.  I went to my first Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting!  Their meetings are generally on the first Thursday of the month, so I went to the February meeting, which was last Thursday, February 2nd.  I met lots of new people, made a new friend (hi Diana!) and just had a really good time.  I plan on going to more meetings as much as I can! 

I got my Ribbed Ribbon Socks finished by the end of January, and they turned out great!  I really like them.  I used Malabrigo Sock Yarn in the Persia colorway, and I like how they striped/pooled.

I've also still been working hard on my Lexi cardigan, and I've made great progress on that.  I made it to the halfway point on February 1st, and my goal is to finish it by the end of March at the very latest.

The other big project on my needles right now is my Lacy Cocoon Sweater. This is the 3rd time I've made this sweater, the 1st one was for my sister and the 2nd one was for my mom.  This one is for me, so it's a little bit larger than the other two, but it's coming along pretty well.  I'm still working the stockinette section, but it's a nice break from the moss stitch of the Lexi cardigan.  I like the fabric of the sweater, it's made by alternating rows of a worsted weight yarn with a lace weight yarn.

 One more thing on the needles is a pair of fingerless gloves for my youngest son.  I'm using Knit Picks Brava yarn, which is 100% acrylic, but it's sooo soft!  I'm really enjoying using it.

I've been a busy crafter!  Lots of in progress pics this week.  I also have spinning!  I've been working on spinning some yarn on my spindle as a gift for a chickie friend of mine.  I'm more than halfway done with the spinning, but then I will need to ply the yarn as well, since this will be my first plied yarn it will be a two-ply.  No pics yet since it's a surprise for her!
Hope everyone is having a productive and crafty month!

Lots of Knitting

It's a Monday evening, and it has been raining here all day, in fact for most of the weekend. So what am I doing? Knitting, of course! I've been working on lots of different projects lately, making progress on each one.

The first thing I knit on today was a pair of Traveling Socks. What's a Traveling Sock? Well, in one of my Ravelry groups, the Knitters Brewing Co. Sock-Aholics, there are two groups of us, an East Coast group and a West Coast group. I'm in the East Coast group, and there are 12 of us total. We each started a sock, just working the toes, and then sent them on along with a journal to the next person in line. The next person works a little bit, writes in your journal, and sends them on to the next person, and so on. So at the end I will have a fabulous pair of socks worked on by 11 other people! It's so much fun working on everyone's socks! I've been pulling out my stitch dictionaries that haven't gotten much use, and going through them to pick out a pattern to use for my portion of the socks. I also pick out a yarn to use, which may or may not depend on what others have used on the socks before me. So this morning I finished up my section of someone's socks, wrote a bit in the journal, and got them in the mail this afternoon. Now I just need to wait for the next pair of socks to arrive!

Speaking of socks, I've also been working on a pair for me. This is my first time using Malabrigo yarn, and I'm using the Persia colorway, which is gorgeous greens, blacks, and greys. I tried a couple of different patterns before I settled on the one that I'm using now, which is a Wendy Johnson pattern called Ribbed Ribbon Socks. I'm done with the feet and the heels, now I'm just working on the legs until they get to the height that I like. Plus they fit perfectly!

Another thing I've worked on today is my Lexi Cardigan. It's a top-down cardigan sweater, and I've gotten the very top portion done, separated some stitches for the arms, and now I'm working the body section. I'm doing this for my Harry Potter group on Ravelry, so I've got a deadline of the end of March to get it done. I've tried working a few rows each day, but I think it's easier for me to set aside a day or two a week to work on it.

One last thing that I'm working on is my spindle spinning. No pictures of that, since the handspun yarn that I'm making is a surprise for a friend! The fibers that I'm using are gorgeous, though, so I know she'll love it.

New Year, New Projects

For 2012, I have some resolutions (yep, I made some!) and some new projects on the knitting needles.

First of all, my resolutions. The usual ones: lose weight; eat better; exercise more. But there are also some new ones: either finish projects that I start or frog them; finish up some old projects; keep practicing spindle spinning; and the big one, open an Etsy store.

Etsy.com is a great site for crafters that sells all sorts of things, everything from photographs to candles to pottery. They sell finished items, vintage items, and supplies for making crafts. I would have my own "store", with a unique website address, and I would be able to list things to sell. The advantage to this is that a lot of the things that I make are unique and one-of-a-kind, so it's kind of hard to stock a traditional store. Etsy would allow me to sell these items. I will have jewelry, maybe some knit or crochet items, stitch markers, and project bags or other sewing items. I've already starting making some things for my inventory! I'll definitely have an announcement on my blog when my store is ready to go.

Over on Ravelry, among the many groups, there is a group for Harry Potter crafters called the Harry Potter Knit & Crochet House Cup (HPKCHC). Students are sorted into one of the 4 houses (a group of students) from the main school (Hogwarts) in the Harry Potter books. They then follow a series of prompts for classes, and turn in their knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing, or weaving as homework to earn points for their house.

I'm part of the Hufflepuff House, and I love it there. According to Wikipedia, Hufflepuffs are known to "value hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play". Each term is 3 months long, with one month off in between terms. Homework should generally take one month or less to complete, and following the books, there is a more difficult "test" called an O.W.L. In the Ravelry group, an O.W.L. is a project that takes nearly the whole term to complete. Students turn in a proposal and then are either approved or asked to revise the proposal. Once approved, they can start crafting!

For the Winter 2012 term, my O.W.L. is a project using a pattern that really caught my eye, the Lexi Cardigan by Cheri Christian. Here is my Ravelry project page for the cardigan.


I was able to turn in my proposal and get approval on January 1st, so I cast on and have been working on my cardigan in between other projects. I'm using a darkish brown color, and I think this will be a cardigan that will go with nearly everything. I think it will be great for the mild Georgia winters. Now I just need to complete it on time!

I was also able to get a dishcloth finished yesterday and turned in for homework. It looks like a miniature sweater! Along with the dishcloth, I also finished a pair of socks, which were a test knit for a Ravelry friend. I love her patterns! So it's been a pretty productive first week of 2012. More importantly, I'm enjoying what I'm making.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope this coming year is a good one for everybody. I have lots of plans for 2012, and I would like to see my plans put in to action. For example, I want to finish up some projects that have been sitting around for a while, and I plan on opening my Etsy shop sometime in January.

Also happening in 2012, my oldest, Alex, will be graduating from high school and beginning college, while my youngest, Tyler, will be finishing up middle school and starting high school. Both boys have some pretty big milestones this year! It's an exciting time for both of them.

Pretty Doggies

Pretty doggies, just back from the vet and groomers!

Almost There...

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping! One or two little things left to buy, mostly for my 17-year-old. I haven't wrapped anything yet though. I'll wait until I have everything and then wrap it all at once.

My mom will be here tomorrow! The boys have school through Thursday, and then have Friday off. The boys are very excited to have their Grandma here for Christmas! Since my dad lives with us, the boys get to have Christmas with both grandparents this year. We usually have a pretty quiet family Christmas, since the boys are usually busy playing with their new toys (hubby included).

Both doggies are at the vet today, Alex and I dropped them off this morning. Lilli and Copper both need a checkup and then they are getting groomed! I don't expect them to be happy about it, but at least they will look and smell good for Christmas. I'm going to try to get some pics of them before they get too messed up!

Harry Potter Swap

On Ravelry, there are many groups that do swaps. A swap is when you are given a partner, and you try to find out information about that person in order to put together a personalized swap package for them. The current swap that I'm taking part in is a Harry Potter themed swap, and it's been a lot of fun. I've had a great time getting to know my swap partner, Melissa, and stalking her on Ravelry trying to find out more information about her. So I put together a package that I hope she enjoys, and in turn, I received my swap package from Melissa earlier this week.
Wow! She is an amazing crafter and a generous swapper! Here's what I saw when I opened the box from Melissa:













Of course, I had a little help from Lillian. Everything was beautifully wrapped, except for a bag of my favorite chocolates, white chocolate truffles. I proceeded to slowly open the gifts, enjoying each one while oohing and aahing over the pretties.

Cute card!

Pretty project bag










ALL THE GOODIES! Some stationery, sock yarn, a magazine, pretty mug, some roving, a Christmas ornament, a project bag, and a couple of handmade items: a bracelet and a candle holder/picture frame.

First of all, the bracelet. It's in my favorite color combination of blue and silver. The charms signify the different magical schools in the Harry Potter books. Not only that, the charms are removable and can be used as stitch markers! How clever is that?








The next handmade item is a candle holder/picture frame combination. It's so pretty and sparkly! Again, in blue and silver, there's room for pictures of my family all around. I just love it! It's so unique.













I feel so lucky getting Melissa as a swap partner! I got to know a wonderful person, and got some great goodies! I hope Melissa enjoys her package as much as I enjoyed mine!

Happy Holidays

Christmas and New Year's are coming up fast! We had a nice Thanksgiving with my in-laws here. My mother-in-law and hubby did all the cooking, I didn't have to do a thing! It was kind of nice. My mom will be coming for Christmas weekend, so the boys are really looking forward to that.

Alex has finished his internship, which he really enjoyed. It will be hard for him to adjust to being a regular high school senior again. His graduation will be here in May, and it will be here before we know it! This is Tyler's last year of middle school, so he will be starting high school at the same time that Alex starts college.

The boys know what most of their Christmas presents are, but hubby and I have a couple of surprises for them this year. Tyler has also been waiting for 2 years for a certain new Star Wars video game to be released, and it comes out next week! He is extremely excited. He pre-ordered the game, so he will actually get it sooner than the release date.

I've been busy with my knitting. I've also started spinning, using a drop spindle. At first I wasn't sure I would be able to learn how to do it, but I've been practicing a little every day and I'm getting much better at being able to keep the yarn consistent. It's been a lot of fun building up a fiber stash to go with my yarn stash and fabric stash! After the New Year, I'm hoping to get some things ready for sale on Etsy.com. I plan on making some beaded jewelry and keychains as well as sewing some notions and project bags. Hopefully I can have my Etsy shop up and running in January!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Back to School

The boys are back to school! My oldest son, Alex, is a high school senior, and my youngest son, Tyler, is in 8th grade in middle school. Both of them have lots of exciting things going on this year.
Alex is in a magnet program, which is held in a regular high school, but he takes magnet as well as regular classes. This has given him a big advantage when it comes to college, he's already tested out of having to take several college classes. This fall, as part of a school class, he's doing an internship. He will be working at Georgia Tech Research Labs doing cybersecurity. I'm really excited for him and can't wait to see how much he learns!
Tyler also has some fun things going on this year. He has transferred to a different middle school, and he's really enjoying meeting lots of new people. He's taking first year Spanish, and he's still playing cello in the orchestra. The school orchestra will be playing at an Atlanta Braves baseball game, as well as at the Georgia State Capital, and even Disneyworld! He'll be doing a couple of fundraisers to help pay for the trip to Orlando to go to Disneyworld.
I've been even more busy than usual with my knitting and crocheting! I just finished a beautiful pink and rose toned shawl, and already have several more projects on the needles. One of my husband's co-workers has purchased some things from me, including the shawl, so I'm anxious to get her items done for her. Next up is a beaded hat and scarf set!

Finished!

It's done! My Harbor Light Road Trip Tote is completed. That means that I not only finished the knitting, but I added interfacing and a lining too. I also added pockets to the lining, one zippered pocket and one open pocket. I love how it turned out. It was a lot of work, but the end product is beautiful. I've already gotten lots of compliments on it. Most people can't believe that I made it, which is an awesome reaction to get! Here's a link to my Ravelry project page where I've got lots of notes about how I made the bag.

Still Intarsia!

So I've been consistently working on my Knit Picks Road Trip Kit Harbor Light tote bag. I'm not finished with the intarsia panel, but I am way ahead of schedule on it. I was hoping to be half done with both the sides and back, and the intarsia panel, by the middle of June, instead I'm more than ¾ of the way done at the beginning of June! I think the finishing-blocking, seaming the pieces together, lining using both fabric and interfacing, the handles; all of that is going to take quite a while. I'm weaving in the ends as I go along so that will save me some time at the end. I'm hoping to get it all done by the end of July, and I don't think that will be a problem, but I'm glad I will have plenty of time because seaming the pieces together is probably going to take a lot longer than I thought. The edge stitches of the intarsia panel are pretty wonky, so it's going to be very difficult to seam them together with the back/side piece. Can't wait to see the finished bag!

Intarsia is Fun!

As usual, I have several projects on the knitting needles, but by far the largest one I'm working on is the Road Trip Tote Harbor Light Kit by Knit Picks. It's beautiful, or at least I hope it will be. I've gotten up to row 10 of the front intarsia panel. Intarsia is a knitting technique that uses lots of little pieces of color. In this case, the intarsia makes a picture, so it's called picture knitting. Every time there is a new section of color, you add a new piece of yarn. At first I was using 4-5 yards of color, but as you can imagine, it got tangled up very quickly, so I've found that using 2-3 yard pieces of yarn works much better, since it's a lot easier to untangle. And there is a lot of untangling. Here is a picture of my progress so far, and believe it or not, this is after untangling. I'm a little bit surprised, but it's actually kind of fun! I like following the chart and watching the picture appear.

Return From Vacation

My boys had a week off of school, February 21-25th, so we decided to head on down to visit my mom in Key Largo, Florida. My oldest son Alex and I split the 13-hour drive, and we were there by Saturday night. We spent Sunday with my mom, and headed over to my sister's house to play with my sister, brother-in-law, and my 3 nieces and 1 nephew. It was a gorgeous day. My brother-in-law took the boys out on his boat to go fishing, and they all caught some fish and enjoyed peering into the water to see what animals they could find. They saw barracudas and even a man-o-war. Here are pics of me & Tyler and one of me & Alex.



Meanwhile, back on land, I played with my nieces, and had to show them my latest knitting gear along with my most recent projects. I showed them my newest Knit Kit in turquoise, which I absolutely love. If you don't have one, I highly recommend them. It has a row counter, double ended crochet hook, thread cutter, tape measure, and on the back is a little compartment with scissors, stitch markers, point protectors, and a darning needle. You can get them at Knit Picks, which is where I buy mine, or from their website, theknitkit.com. You could even make up your own kit, like my friend Cindy did!

My recent projects have been a pair of Cabled Lace Socks in black for my mom, a couple of washcloths for my nieces and one for my mom, and a Hot Water Bottle cover for myself. Just finished the socks for my mom, and they turned out great. My nieces loved their washcloths with a picture of their dog's breed on it, one with a Schnauzer and one with a Maltese, and I'm still working on the Hot Water Bottle cover. It's almost done though!

What a great week! ☺