Note to Self:

Do Not Use Salt as a scrub.

Ow, Ow, the burning! The burning!!

Hand Scrub

I decided to try the hand scrub that Laughing Purple Goldfish posted. I did on on the 12th of November, but the picture didn't make the 12 of 12 cut, so I hadn't blogged about it.

I liked the scrub. I felt the sugar scrubbing away at the dead skin that was roughing up my hand, and the olive oil made my hands very smooth and soft.

I liked it so much that I tried adding sugar to my gentle face wash because I noticed a little dry skin. Less sucessful because the sugar melted while I was scrubbing! Oops. Maybe I'll try it with a bit of salt...

Couch. Throw. Done. Finally.

Tonight while listening to Christmas music, (uh... we start early. There's a lot of GOOD Christmas music to hear!) I finished weaving in the ends for my sister and brother-in-law's couch throw!

Technically, I've been working on it since last December. Actually, it's more like February or April because I frogged the first attempt. And I took at least three months off from it entirely. But it's done now. And I'm so happy!

It's very warm and snugly, even for Lion Brand Homespun acrylic. I hope that it sees many good years of use in the family. I hope that it gets stained and dirty from being dragged around the house by the kids! I hope it ends up on the floor wrapped around the family while they watch a movie. I hope that it gets pulled out of shape in an effort to get the most blanket.

All those things happened to the ripple blanket that my mother made. And I love that blanket and it was trapezoidal to start with (I thought we had just warped it with too much tough love!) and I would still be glad and proud to toss it on our couch!

Are you Expecting?

So today I went to the bank to change my name on the account. Yes, I've been married for 2.5 years. Yes, I'm a chronic procrastinator, why do you ask?

Anyway, I whipped out my crochet while I was waiting, never missing a few minutes to add a few stitches. A banker comes up to me and tells me that she can help me. Great! I put my crochet away and follow her into her office. I'm in the process of taking off my coat when she said, "Are you expecting?" I looked down at my stomach, confused. I don't see how this woman would ask this question, even though I am dressed in a bulky jacket... "No...?"

She says, "Oh, when I see people do this," her hands wave in vaguely in front of her, "it usually means..."

I replied, "Oh, I was just wondering if I looked fat!" That certainly embarrassed her. "Oh no!" She murmurs slight apologies and I wave them away.

I'm not surprised to get the assumption that handiwork = pregnancy, but it took me off guard that it was after the hook went into the bag. I had stopped thinking about what I was working on (my shawl) as soon as she approached. It's funny that people still make that assumption, even though it's so much cheaper to buy baby clothes and less of a hassle. I wouldn't make everyday things for a baby to wear, and certainly not out of lace weight alpaca that cost me $40! But it's a common occurrence in the fiber world, just not one that had happened to me before!

Now I'm off to watch The Seven Year Itch with the husband. We love our old movies!

Only Have 5 Minutes Left of the Day to Update!

I am SO close to finishing the blanket. I'll finish it tomorrow.

Husband and I watched HIs Girl Friday tonight. Wow. That dialogue was insane! I would have loved to have seen the stage show it was taken from. That would be truly amazing.

We have to buy a car. I thought we were going to get one from my Meme (grandmother), but that's not happening. The inspection is due at the end of the month and there's no way it'll pass and it's not worth putting any money into (and it would be a lot to make it pass!). I'm not entirely certain where we're going to get the money to do this. We have some, but not enough...

I spent the past hour making husband's food for tomorrow at work! Yummy rice with veggies, a salad, and a tuna salad to make into a sandwich. Okay, time to hit post to count for today!

42nd Street

So the current show that's playing is 42nd Street. My mother and Meme (grandmother) came to see the show tonight. They both really enjoyed it. Throughout the show, I worked frantically to try and finish the couch throw for my sister. I really wanted it to be done so that I could just have my mom take it and give it to her. But I decided that I didn't like the border I had started, so I ripped it out and then I started a simple sc border with two different color rounds. I ran out of the tan! ARRH! FOUR stitches from the end. UGH. But I made it work and ended up crochet backwards from the other side with another end and knotted the two ends together. heh. Whatever works, right?

I did one round of blue, but I want to do a second round before I consider it done. And then I have some ends to weave in. Fortunately, I weaved most of them in as I went, but the last row needs weaving in. I tried crocheting over the ends, but this blanket is too loosely crocheted for that. They stuck out all funny and looked stupid. So weaving them it is!

Tomorrow and Monday I have off. Then I go on an early schedule of 9-5 for two days. Weird for me! I just hope I get enough sleep. I've been needing a crazy 11 hours of sleep lately! I wonder if I'm fighting something off.

17 things i made - a video

Okay, I just spent an hour catching up on NaBloPoMo blogs (neglecting my other daily read blogs... I'm so behind!) and I'm too wiped to write out a post. So instead, I'm going to leave you with these two beautiful videos. I felt so touched by them. I'd love to make my own version of "17 things..." You must watch the first and then the second for it to make sense.





Isn't it inspiring and touching? I just want to go out and DO something after watching!

Mycroft the Cat

So most every comment was about my cat, so I thought I'd do a short post dedicated to him.

Mycroft found us. When living in a different apartment, we had a fire escape that overlooked a roof of another apartment. One day, I heard a mewing. At first I ignored it, figuring it was coming from someone else's window. But soon I went to the fire escape and a cat was mewing across the rooftops. I called for it, and it came prancing over and immediately rubbed my hand. I couldn't believe that this little guy was so friendly. We couldn't figure out where we came from, though we tried. And after a visit to the vet's for a peeing all over the place problem (UTI) and a stern warning that the cat weighed 17 pounds and was likely to develop diabetes and have chronic UTIs unless he shed some pounds, we took him home and named him Mycroft.



Mycroft is Sherlock Holmes's older brother. He's incredibly smart, but also incredibly fat and lazy. He'd rather sit in an armchair, sipping brandy, then hit the street to figure out a crime. Well, this cat that already knew "no" and not to jump on the table and mostly liked to lay around the house, not tear around, seemed to fit the name.



He'd shed a few pounds since we've had him. I can actually see his hip bones, but he's still a very large cat. In order for him to have enough room on my lap, I have to sit criss crossed in the chair. My legs certainly grow numb with his giant furriness on me, but I just LOVE to hear him purr. He has a purr like a motor boat! It is INCREDIBLY loud, and the song that Heather linked me to fits him perfectly! I'd love to have a listen.



Mycroft is a very gentle cat and is almost always up for a snuggle. Since moving into our new place, he is more active and since he's been getting wet food, he's even more vocal when it gets near dinner time.



Right now he's meowing at his toys, wanting them to move. He doesn't do so well at playing by himself. And he's not socialized with other cats. He's afraid of them and every other creature!



He hates having his paws touched, but I just love them!

(I'll catch up on blogs tomorrow, I promise! It's been a very busy couple of days!!)

12 of 12 November

The 12th of every month, one of my friends posts 12 pictures of her day to share with everyone. I thought it would be fun to do, so here are 12 pictures out of the 89 I took today!

10:24a



After snoozing a few times and and snuggling with the husband for a few mintues, I roll out of bed. I know I have to hurry, like usual, but I stop to look in the mirror for this photo. I'm glad I don't generally look in the mirror when I first get up!

10:48a



I have to be at work in 12 minutes. I'm stopping to take a picture WHY?

11:02a



Rolling into work late, but I slow to take a picture of our sign!

11:05a



Only three minutes late by punch card time, which is a couple minutes slow for real time...

12:26p



I'm on hold... AGAIN. I called the safe company three times today (and was on hold for 25+ minutes) to figure out if I could and how to change the safe combo...

1:27p



One of the actor's bright pink shoes brightens my day. I answer many questions about this and that for them. That's my bag making a public appearance!

1:34p



At my work station, trying to get these complimentary (comp) ticket requests squared away while my email inbox continually gives me more to do.

4:28p



Donations for Broadway Care / Equity Fights AIDS. I have to sort and band eight buckets worth of cash every time I work this show.

6:31p



Had to step outside to see if there was coffee in the other building. The moon was so lovely.

7:25p



Whenever I go to the library, I have to stop by the craft books. I picked up three books on needle felting.

7:59p



A quick stop at CVS to get a perscription and some Dove deodorant. UNSCENTED as I have multiple chemical sensitivity and resperatory system can't handle fragrance etc.

9:33p



Watching last night's House and crocheting while Mycroft keeps my lap warm.

Hearts

This is the dessert I made tonight upon returning from knit night at Yarns in the Farms. I chopped up some red delicious apples and bosc pears (they were what I had on hand!), tossed in some vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, and ginger and put it on the stove until everything was soft.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to get the right shapes. On the right is just a sprinkling of cinnamon and on the left is the fresh baked apple walnut bread that Jill's daughter made. (Jill is one of the owners of Yarns in the Farms.)

A homemade candle topped it off. I turned down the lights and surprised the husband with a little treat.

This is the second knit night I've gone to at YitF. The first one was on a Wednesday night, which is run by Carolyn. Both groups of ladies were chatty and inviting and I had a very pleasant time. I again worked on my Lauria's Lovely Lacy Shawl. And again, I received many compliments on my work. No snobbery there!

I also asked the ladies what they thought I should do with my Couch Throw. I'm going to frog back the wonky short rows and do a border. My original intention was to do a border, and I want to do that.

I'll work on that at home and take my shawl out and about. It hasn't grown much since the last time I photographed it. Partially because I realized I had done a couple rows with the wrong hook size and I was concerned about ripping it out. The alpaca is very sticky. But it was suprisingly easy and I've moved a few rows beyond that point now. It takes about an hour and a half to do each row (the eyelit row is quicker!) and I know it's only going to get longer with five increases each row...

Book Review: Vogue Knitting on the Go: Crocheted Shawls

One thing I love to do whenever I become immersed in something is to read as much as I can about it. So it's no surprise that I love thumbing through crochet books. Whenever I go to the library, I look through the fiber arts section. Unfortunately, at my library it's jumbled together, so I always have a search on my hands for the crochet books, rather than the knitting books. Most of the books seem to be stuck in a time warp. But slowly and surely there are more modern books appearing. So I thought I'd give my thoughts on one.

I have been waiting for a while for Vogue Knitting on the Go: Crocheted Shawls to be available at the library. I've had a thing for shawls lately and I wanted to see what vogue knitting would have to say about it.

The introduction seems forward enough. It doesn't come off as a knitter writing about crochet, which seems to be the case much of the time. I'm not certain who wrote the introduction, there's no clear name there, but whoever it was, she obviously is a knitter as well as a crocheter. One thing I found interesting was that knitting written directions tend to be clearer because there are less abbreviations and more full words. I didn't know this, not knitting myself.

I found most of the patterns to be quite interesting. I found myself drawn to the rectangular patterns, rather than the triangular ones, but there was certainly a mix of different shawl types - something to satisfy anyone. I was disappointed with some yarn choices. Some shawls looked stiff and lacking drape. I think that could have been easily solved by a different yarn choice for the pattern.

I find myself most attracted to the simple patterns that allow the yarn to be the shining star of the show, rather than the complex patterned piece. Looking at what's been made at Raverly, I'm surprised that there aren't more shawls made from this book. I thought of taking pictures of the shawls, but then I thought that might be copyright infringement, so you'll just have to find the book to look at the pictures, yourself.

One shawl I was most unimpressed with was a shawl in a moss green color which used only the loop stitch. You've seen the stitch on amigurumi sheep to make the fleece... And it looked like a sheep fell into a vat of moss dye, was skinned and tossed over this woman's shoulder. Huh? What's that about? I really hate to be negative on someone's design because I know what kind of work goes into designing something, but... I can't imagine it being ANYONE's thing. I'm not surprised that it's not listed as anyone having made it on Raverly -- the designer didn't even admit to making one!

One beauty is Doris Chan's Winged Victory. As soon as I saw it, I instantly recognised it as being her work. It's another one of her blown up doily patterns. She explains her foundation single crochet technique, which I've found invaluable.

The cover shawl, Dots and Daisies is rather striking against the plain black background of the model's dress. The point of the triangle falls on the lower thigh and looks like a perfect accessory to an elegant, but unadorned evening gown.

The Shawl du soleil fascinates me, but I wonder how heavy it is! I think I'd prefer it as a blanket rather than a shawl.

There are 21 designs in total in the book and each one feels very different from the others. If you have a chance, I'd recommend giving it a look to see if something in it catches your eye. I'm certainly going to check out the other books in the series. I was pleasantly surprised with something labeled "knitting" having some impressive crochet patterns in it.

Christmas Crochet Booklet

This is a booklet that my mother gave me from her crocheting days. I adore the pillows! They're just too cute. I don't know if I'd make them, though, only because I'm against knick-knack things and I think that holiday decorations like this are knick-knacky. We don't have storage for these kinds of things. But, but... They're so cute! What's a girl to do?

Other photos of the booklet are on my flickr. Follow the picture above to see the rest. The cute little package decorations (shown on the other cover) are also very cute. I could totally see making a bunch of these for presents!

And here's a gratuitous picture of Mycroft, the cat:

To Frog and Border or to Embrace the Wonkiness?

There hasn't been anything exciting craft-wise lately. I'm making steady progress on my checkered blanket. Actually, I'm at the end of my yarn for one color, which would leave a weird checker row. I'm not sure if I should try to make it as big as I can and call it a day, or if I should frog back to my last full squares and then use the remaining yarn to create a border of sorts...

What do you think?


The blanket is actually quite even, it's just that because it's all back loop only, it has a LOT of stretch to it, so it's hard to keep it looking like a rectangle.

Here's a close up:


Just not quite enough yarn left...

Sports Themed Baby Blanket

So one of my next projects will be making a sports themed baby blanket for my unborn nephew. His (and his older brother's) room is sports themed. I've been kicking around some ideas in my head.

One is to make a ball-shaped blanket. Baseball, Basketball, Football, or Soccer ball. Most would be fairly simple to crochet in the round and then add surface crochet or embroidery for the details.

Or, I could make a rectangular blanket with ball shapes on it. Crochet a bunch of different balls, then connect them by crocheting around and around. I'm sure I'm thrilled on how this looks, however, so this idea is probably not going to happen.

What about a blanket that looks like a playing field? Football field would be fairly simple, and there's even one out there already. Football Fever (Rav link), for example. Same with soccer, and likely basketball. But for some reason, I'm pretty set on making a Fenway Park baseball diamond blanket. This is very silly. Fenway park is not a normal shape. I'm thinking that maybe there's a way to simplify the shape. Extend the right and left baseline sides so that they make a straight line? I'm also thinking that I'd like to try diagonal crochet for this. Something like this (LionBrand pattern link). And I'd definitely make the grass pattern of the red sox logo and the blocks of different green grass in the outfield.

I really like this idea, but I'm also worried it'll be too ambitious! I think it's either that, or crocheting a baseball with a red sox logo...

Any opinions or suggestions?

No Fibery goodness in this post. Keep moving along

I've been having a hard time coming up with something to blog about today. I really like this blog to be craft related, but today all I did was go to work and come home! No crafting time at all! Not even at work. Sometimes I get craft time at work because things are slow, but not today. It was very busy.

Today, I paid off the credit card. When my husband and I moved here at the end of April, I had a job all lined up, but my husband didn't. It took him until mid-September to find a job, and he had to take a job he didn't want, jsut so that we could survive. For July and August, we were living on the credit card. I made enough money to cover the bills and rent, but food, gas, clothing, etc. was all paid with the credit card. Today, I was able to pay that off. Now, we can get started on saving more money up because we need a new car. And fast! But it feels good to get that accomplished.

I promised that we'd get a pizza when we paid off the credit card as a reward and we will. It's hard to allow myself this little luxery because I think, "that's money that we need to be saving up for the next crisis," but I made a promise that we would get a pizza as a reward for all our scrimping, and we're going to! I think that this reward is important and I want to be able to enjoy it. :)