I'm back...I know it's been a few days since I last blogged, but life has been crazy busy lately. I think things will be slowing down a little this week, but I know as the holidays approach a full schedule is just inevitable. I did finally felt the bag I crocheted, but I'm not as pleased with it now as I was at first. I sewed the handles on, and they look okay...but something just isn't quite the way I had imagined it. I guess I expected the whole thing to stand up a little better on its own, and I suppose it will when it is filled. But I also am having trouble deciding whether or not to line the poor thing! It would look better lined, but I don't really want to go to all the work of finding a fabric I like and putting the lining together and all that. I also don't really know whether or not I want to add some kind of closure to it. It obviously flops wide open on its own, so it wouldn't be a good purse without a snap or something. But, on the other hand, it looks a little more like a small tote right now anyway, which means it wouldn't need a closure.

Argh! I am in a sea of indecision right now! What am I to do????!!! Any opinions?

Frustated Felter,

Cocoa

Well, my in-laws and gone...it's a little too quiet and lonely around here now! They brought their mini wirehair dachshund along with them to visit, and he was quite entertaining! It wasn't very nice of them to tempt me with a pet, though, since we can't have one here. (No space, no time, no money!) But it was fun to have him in the house for a few days anyway. Here's a pic of the little mut:

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On the crocheting front, I have finally worked up the courage to post a pic of that bag I'm going to felt. Now that it's been hiding in the drawer for a few days it doesn't look quite as ugly to me. But I still can't wait to see the finished result. I think tomorrow night will be the night. I just have to make sure I have the steps down, and then I'll be ready!

Here goes nothin'!

Cocoa

At last...after a long, hot summer...it is finally beginning to feel like fall around here! I actually have to wear a jacket in the morning when I leave the house, and it feels good to have the windows open in the evening. This is such a relief from the terribly hot summer we had, but I do have to say I still miss my lovely four seasons in the North. This Texas weather drives me batty!

Anyway, I'm afraid I won't be doing much crocheting over the next few days. My hubby's parents are coming to visit for a few days, and we haven't seen them in 10 months. So it will be good to spend time with them this weekend...but I will have to wait until they leave to start felting and fulling! (I don't want to do it while they are here in case something goes wrong and I have an emotional breakdown!) :o) Meanwhile, I am keeping my eye out for new ideas for the art fair...I have changed my mind about some of the projects I was planning, so now I am dreaming again! I'm also looking for good deals on yarn because I'm low on funds, so if anybody knows of any really good bargains..... :o)

Grinnin' but not Stitchin',
Cocoa

Well, I thought I was going to put down my crochet hooks for a few days after finishing the shawl...I was burned out on "Romance" yarn, and that was all I had left for my art fair projects at the time. (Those of you who have a huge stash can't possibly imagine that, but I have to keep the amount of yarn in the house to a bare minimum because I simply don't have anywhere to store it!) However, I have been absolutely fascinated by the idea of felting something...the whole process just intrigues me, and I've really liked the looks of the finished product! So, I asked my dear hubby if I could go buy some wool...and the sweet man that he is, he said YES! :) Yippee!

So I bought a few skeins of Paton's Merino, and I'm totally experimenting with my first felted bag. I am going off some directions given on Crochetville, but also just winging it. I haven't exactly fallen in love with any patterns I've seen yet...so I'm just doing what I feel like. We'll see how it turns out! Right now I'm in the middle of the body of the bag. I still haven't decided what kind of handles I want to use/make. I have some ideas, but who knows what I'll end up with! I'd post some pics, but it's just so ugly looking to me right now that I can't make myself do it! Last night I was working on the bag at church, and I felt so compelled to tell everyone that this is NOT what it will look like when it is finished! I just hope that what looks like a giant mistake of a shopping sack will end up looking like the cute litte purse I see in my head!

Well, that's all for now! Better go make some dinner and feed my man before I think too much more about this whole felting thing! :)

Fiddling with Felting,
Cocoa

It's Friday! Yippee! And I finished the stole (I decided it's more of a stole that I shawl) I was making this week. I'm very proud of it, even if the design is rather basic. Maybe someday I'll post the pattern, too. But for now here's a pic of the finished product! I decided to name the design "Night at the Opera."

Well, though I'm already half finished with the body of the new shawl I'm making, I promised I'd put up a WIP pic, so here 'tis. The zig-zag pattern the shells are making looks great, but it's kinda making my eyes buggy from looking at it too long! I'm wondering just how I'm going to end it too, because every new row needs connected to the next before it looks right. Hmmmm...I'm going to have to think on this one, but I have time. I definitely am going to add some fringe when I'm finished. I hope it will look as elegant as I imagine! I still have to think of a name for it too. Any ideas?

Yippee! Another finished product! The Blossom Shawl (as I have unofficially dubbed my creation) took a little longer than I thought it would. I'm not sure if that's because I was spending too much time at the computer, or if it was just not a quickie project. Anyway, it's done now. I had just enough yarn to make it a nice length for a shawl, which was a relief. And the little randomly shaped flowers on the ends gave it a pretty, playful touch. I'm quite happy with how it looks. Now I'm on to another shawl, this time one of my own design. I am very excited because this is the first time I've tried creating my own pattern (other than a few simple scarves with variations of sc, hdc, and dc which don't really count). I haven't taken any pics yet, but I will post an update soon! For now, here's the Blossom Shawl:

Just an update on my flower shawl... I have been having way too much fun at Crochetville, so I haven't made as much progress as I should. But I did decide to use some little flowers on top of the large ones at the ends when the shawl is finished. I considered the idea of a chain of leaves, but I just couldn't see it in my mind, so more flowers it is!

I realized that last time I failed to put up the more detailed picture in my last post, so here it is. After I finish this post, I'm going to go crochet...really....I am going to step away from the computer and crochet...I am...seriously! (Boy, is this addicting!)

This is my current WIP for the art fair. It's supposed to be LB's Trail of Blossoms Scarf, but I decided I wanted to make it a shawl instead. So I'm making it twice as wide and half as long. I'm just hoping I have enough yarn to make it as long as I want...I always get worried about that halfway through a project. Anyway, I'm also trying to think of a way to embellish the ends a bit, maybe by adding a few 3-d flowers. I haven't decided yet.