Okay, so I don't have much to write about today, but I'm in a writing mood...so I thought I'd better seize the opportunity! I crocheted a bunch over the weekend, but I can't talk much about that because Christmas is coming! (It's all hush-hush right now, just in case!)

My darling hubby and I have been gradually decorating the house over the past few weeks. Being from the north, we can't stand the warm Texas autumns, not to mention what they call "winter" down here...so we usually put the Christmas tree and decs up before Thanksgiving. It helps beat the warm winter blues. DH's sister is coming tomorrow, and we are so excited to see her! Maybe she can bring some cold north winds with her! She will be spending 5 days with us, and I'm looking forward to the time we'll have together.

Also, the craft fair is next week...I still have to put the finishing touches on a couple of things, and then I will be ready! I am really looking forward to it this year, and I hope that alot of my new creations will sell. I put alot more time, money and creative juices into things this year. Here's hoping it will all pay off!

Well, I suppose I should go do something productive now. (Ugh) Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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

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.

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