First Round Ripple Finished

Well, here it is! My first round ripple is complete. I really love this pattern, and the colors came together beautifully. Originally, I had planned to do six rows of the dark blue on the outside, but the blankie was getting pretty big already. Plus, the dark blue was almost overpowering the other brighter colors. So, instead I decided to make it more of a border using only three rows and fastening off. I still have plenty of yarn for another, though I don't need to make any more baby blankets for boys at this point. But maybe there's enough there for a blanket for me...hmmmm....

Stitchin' and Grinnin',

Cocoa

My First Sweater Ever!

The Caron Circle Jacket is finished and it was a success! I can hardly believe that I actually made a garment...let alone something that is more than a simple rectangle! I actually finished it Saturday, but I haven't had time to post until now. I was so proud of it I had to wear it to church Sunday! :o) I'm still thinking about blocking it, though. I think it might help show off some of the stitches better.

Anywho, as to the particulars...I did not do the double button "thingy" per the pattern. I just sewed on a button I happened to have that matches the yarn color. Speaking of the yarn, I use Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red. I really like the color! I would make one in black, too, but I already have enough black sweaters. I'm so glad I decided to go with the small size. I wasn't sure if it would fit according to the measurements in the pattern...but if I'd made it any larger I'd be swimming in it! Thanks to everyone who did this pattern before me and found all the errors, I really thought was pretty simple! So maybe I am an intermediate crocheter now! Woohoo!

So, now what project can I think up next? Hmmmmm.....

Dreamin',

Cocoa

Oh, the Joys of Organization

I have been seeing lots of people making these little fabric cases for their hooks and things, and they looked so neat that I decided to make one myself. I was especially inspired by Erin's hook case, and even though I tried to follow the tutorial she linked to, I ended up really making it up as I went. It was so fun to dust off the sewing machine and use up a bit of my fabric stash...which is much bigger than my yarn stash right now! So, I now have a completely organized place to keep my hooks, tapestry needles, and other little odds and ends I may need. And in the process I found the small pair of scissors my mom gave me a year ago and couldn't find anywhere for months....they were hiding with my sewing machine! Go figure! :o) Anyway, here are the photos. Hope they inspire you as others have inspired me!

Here's the case when it's all rolled up:

Here it is unrolled with the flap down:






And here it is completely open. I used sticky-back velcro instead of sewing the flap down. I didn't want it too permanent. It works great!

Still Stitchin' and Grinnin',

Cocoa

Yippee! The blanket was finished, and my pastor and his wife LOVE it! I think they were just amazed and surprised that I had actually made it myself. Lots of people at church know I crochet, but so few people (young people, especially) make things to give as gifts these days. I just think it is so much more special and heartfelt to give handmade gifts, particularly in this age of "gift card mania." I know any of you reading this probably agree, because you are all crafty people who believe in preserving the traditions and simple things so many others have forgotten! Anyway, enough of my rambling...here are some photos of the blanket (clickable)!

Givin' and Grinnin',

Cocoa

Home, sweet home again! DH and I had a wonderful vacation with family, and we enjoyed the cold weather so much! But we are glad to be back in our own house again, in spite of the Texas weather and the fact that we have to get back to work again soon. I don't feel like writing a whole lot tonight, so I will just share some pics instead!

These are the hats I crocheted for my grandma and her husband, as I wrote about in my last couple of posts. Hers is the crimson one with the brim down (to show the stitches better), and his is the aran fleck with brim rolled up.


Here is my beautiful kitty, Bright, who lives at home with my parents. We can't have any pets here, and she doesn't travel well...so she gets to stay with them instead! She is a queen, as you can probably tell, and rules the house, regardless of what the other pets may think!

This is my brother's cat, Whitetip, who is the baby of the family. He loves to cuddle, but he is full of mischief and likes to play rough. His tail never stops moving, even when he's asleep...so Dad nicknamed him "Thumper."
And this is Gunner, the family dog. He used to be quite a hunter, but he's retired now because of arthritis in his back hips and legs. Nowadays he just wants to be close to anyone who will scratch him behind the ears and give him a bite of "people food" every once in a while!

Well, that's all for now...I'm still recovering from our long trip, but I hope to write more in the next few days!

Happy New Year!

Cocoa

Oh, by the way, I forgot to write an update on the brown and cream felted purse that I had so much trouble with. I did finally decide to felt it again, and that seemed to help a bit. I also made a closure for it, thanks to input from Lauren at http://littleriverfiberarts.blogspot.com/. Here's what it looks like now:

Woohoo! My post editor toolbar has returned! I don't know where it was, but I hope it had a nice trip! Anyway, now I can post my pics. And I learned how to do clickable pictures, so I am super excited! The first is my dad's afghan/lapghan, "Christmas Crosses." The second photo is my mom's snowman doorstop. He's so cute (and so big!). Enjoy!

Frustration! I really wanted to post some pictures of the Christmas projects I've finished, but blogger is being annoying and not letting me have my post editor toolbar! Grrrrr....grumble, grumble.

Oh well, suffice it to say that my Christmas gifts are complete, and I'm very pleased with the way they turned out. The craft fair at school is in full swing, though I have not done much business so far. We had a little setback on Thursday and Friday because bad weather kept alot of people home. So I'm hoping that Monday and Tuesday I'll be able to sell some more items. But if not, I've been busy setting up an Etsy store and considering all the ins and outs of online sales. Whatever I don't sell at the craft fair will go up for sale on Etsy, so keep your eyes peeled!

I've also been busy reworking the look of my blog (as you can see). I wanted something that was a little more professional looking without being boring. The Scribe template is just my style, too...a little bit romantic, but still very practical! It will be evolving more as I learn how to navigate Blogger beta. Funny how I just dove into this blogging thing, started to think I had things figured out, then decided to switch it all up! I guess I just can't resist a challenge!

Well, that's all for now. I think I'll head on over to Crochetville and try to post my pics there, at least. I just love being able to show off what I've made! :o)

Happy Sunday ya'll!
Cocoa

Being home from work for a sick day can actually be more profitable than I thought! Not only did I get some much needed rest, but I crocheted up a storm! Here are some picks of the things I made yesterday! The first is a little pocketbook made out of a simple rectangle sewn together after felting with my first felted flowers attached as decorations. It's even cuter in real life! (I still have to attatch one of those little magnetic snaps, but then it will be ready for sale!)
Here's an accomplishment that made me really proud... I came up with the idea for this little evening bag completely on my own. I was curious about how a round bag would shrink up during the felting process, and it turned out just as I had hoped (with just one 14 minute cycle, too!) I also hadn't tried making designs in the felt before, so adding the baubles was a bit of an adventure. The drawstring also worked out rather well, especially since I was just making everything up as I went along. I may try to write down a basic pattern/schematics for this little cutie...but we'll see if I can remember what on earth I did!
Last of all are these cute little...umm...well, they were supposed to be flowers, but they look more like some sea creatures I saw on tv once! They were all based on patterns I found for felted flowers, though I changed a few little details. I don't think I'll be using those patterns again! Oh well...anybody interested in some goofy looking sea creatures? Anyone at all? :o)

Fooling with Felting,
Cocoa

Woohoo! I have successfully switched to blogger beta! (At least it appears to be working!) We'll see how to goes as I have more time to play with my blog in the coming weeks.

I'm home from church sick today...the first time that has happened in I don't know how long! I feel really bad about missing today, too, because I was supposed to be teaching the final lesson on worship in my women's Sunday School class. I was really looking forward to this lesson...I guess I'll be looking forward to it for one more week! But maybe this is God's way of telling me to slow down and get some much needed rest and time alone with Him.

I must have been sick yesterday, too, because I didn't feel good enough to get off the couch and do anything around the house. Instead, I crocheted all day, which was kinda fun for a change! I created an entire shawl with no pattern for the craft fair. It turned out nicely, in spite of the fact that it was my first experiment with freeforming anything. I actually started out with the shells first, but I decided I wanted them to be the edging instead of main body of the shawl. So, I turned it around and started just playing with different stitches until I had a pattern the width I liked. I was somewhat inspired by the Half Moon Shawl Lion Brand used to advertise this yarn (Romance), but I wanted it to be my own design...so this is what I came up with! I'm calling it "Moonlight Sonata"....but don't ask me why! :o)

Well, I haven't been doing too much on the crochet front lately...just dabbling with a square here and a square there, between looking at lots of patterns and trying to decide what to make for Christmas this year.

But I did finally finish this little LB Fun Fur/Incredible purse today. I've had it sitting in my crochet drawer for an entire year, and I finally got around to attatching the handle and ribbons (tied in a bow to "close" the purse). I made this thing last year for the art show, but didn't quite get it finished in time. So it stayed in the drawer, waiting patiently for me to finish it so it could be what it was meant to be! In case anybody is interested, I used a pattern from the Michaels website, but I modified the pattern a bit because I didn't like the handles. It should make a cute little girl's purse, I think!

Now I'm off to make my Christmas gift list! And I might start working on a little girl's winter set today. I love Saturdays!

TTFN!
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."

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:

I'll admit it...I've been a crocheting fool this week. The yarns I ordered finally arrived (actually, they arrived sooner than I expected, but the anticipation was killing me anyway!) and I have been blazing through projects ever since! The biggest thing I'm worried about now is that once I've finished all my planned items, I won't want to stop. And I can't really afford to just go out and buy yarn and crochet things at a breakneck pace all the time. It's fine for an art fair, but definitely not part of my normal operating budget! Argh!!! Anyway, here are the things I've done this week:

This boa was really not that much fun to make, but it only took a couple of hours start to finish. (Once I started, I decided I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible!) It's made out of LB's Bolero yarn, which is kinda fun to work with, but this project was not really crocheting...it was just a bunch of measuring loops of yarn and slip stitching them together. Hope it will sell anyway, because it is kinda cool looking now that it is finished (unless you're my husband, who told me I looked like I was wearing a lion costume when I tried it on!)

This is the "Potato Chip" scarf I made with that great bargain Moonlight Mohair I got. I thought it turned out nicely, though I decided I don't really like the way this yarn feels. The metallic strand makes it too scratchy for me; I much prefer the softer yarns.

This is Barnaby modeling this cute little ear flap hat I made out of leftover Wool-ease used on the boa above. I'm afraid he was the only model around the house willing to subject himself to being seen in such a silly get-up! Too bad his head is too big! It is definitely a child-size hat. I don't know if something like this will sell, but I couldn't resist the temptation to try out this pattern. It is just to cute (in a vintage sort of way). It was also my first serious attempt at crocheting a hat...and it was an encouraging success. I've always been nervous about things made in rounds, but don't ask me why. Guess I'm just crazy!

Well, that's what I've accomplished this week. I'm presently working on a shawl made out of LB Romance...nice acrylic mohair blend that reminds me of Red Heart Symphony. I was going to make LB's Trail of Blossoms Scarf, until I found out a co-worker is making tons of scarves for the art fair. I decided I need to have more unique items if I want to have good sales...so I altered the pattern to make a rectangular shawl instead. Hope it will turn out well!

In Stitches, Cocoa

So yesterday I went to Walmart to get some milk, and as usual, I just had to browse the craft section before leaving. And it's a good thing I did! They were clearing out some old inventory and had a clearance bin full of great yarns! I picked up some Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair for nearly half price! So now I'm working on my projects for the annual Art Fair at my school. Last fall I made several items just for fun. I didn't really think I'd sell anything, but it turned out to be a huge success! I'm really looking forward to doing better work...and better business...this year. Here are a few pics of some of the items I made last fall.

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Well, now back to my crocheting!

Stitchin' and Grinnin'!

Cocoa

I love to crochet! What more do I need to say?

My grandmother taught me how to crochet rag rugs with a handmade wooden hook when I was 12 or 13. At the time I had no idea what creative doors that would open to me! During college I learned a couple of basic crochet stitches with a crochet hook and yarn borrowed from a friend. Since then I have expanded my horizons via the endless supply of free crochet patterns on the internet. From gifts for friends and family to items sold in craft fairs, from apparel to accessories to afghans, from experiments to well-planned projects--crocheting has become my best-loved hobby by far.

This site is dedicated to discussion of my journey from mere beginner to patter-producing expert. I hope to post photos of my projects share ideas with other crochet maniacs like me! Maybe I can even use this as a platform for my crochet sales! We'll see what happens!

Spinning and Stitching,
Cocoa