April Showers!

I wish that the old saying were actually true, that April showers bring May flowers, but this year, it seems February drought brought all the March flowers! All of the trees have been flowering for weeks now, and many of them are already starting to turn green. Nonetheless, I figured it would be a great time for some spring cleaning and organizing, including taking inventory of my yarn and unfinished projects.

Going through my yarn was such an eye-opening experience! I now know exactly what colors and types I have, approximately how much of each kind, and can start planning my projects based on that. I am usually quite organized, but since we moved to our new apartment, I've not been as diligent about putting the yarns away when I'm finished with a project, or paying attention to how much is left. I've even started a project or two without realizing I didn't have enough yarn to finish, which has come back to bite me. I've got a whole queue now of projects that I already have yarn for, as well as the projects I have in the works and was already planning to make.

I love crocheting, and I love knitting, but sewing and weaving in ends and such has to be my least favorite part of any of my crafting. It's a great feeling to put the final touches on a project and send it away, give it away, or wear it, but sometimes I need a little push to get there, after it comes off the needles or hook. So I have several projects in my bag in need of that final TLC to get them ready to gift or use. 

One of the projects I've been working on is a granny square baby afghan that I've had since the boys were a few months old. I finished a beautiful elf hat at the time, and even made some adorable party hats out of the same yarn, and meant to even make a diaper cover with some of the leftover navy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish all the little ends where the colors switch, which, in my defense, is every 2 rows. 

I hook and I Love This Yarn in navy, Red Heart with Love in iced aqua, Deborah Norville for the edging, and Vanna's Choice in radiant lime

I have finally managed to complete the project, and as much as my little men love their sleeping blankets, they LOVE this afghan! I wish I had finished it sooner, now that I see how much they love snuggling with this one. I will probably end up making another granny square (besides the ugly square) for them out of random skeins so they don't have to fight over it. 

Another project I finished up recently was this adorable little newborn hat, for our little one coming in August. This was the first project I started, literally the day after we found out we're expecting, and it's been in my bag for months now, waiting to be sewn together. I finally got out the darning needle and it took less than 10 minutes, and I think it turned out great. I can't wait to see it on our little lamb!

Vanna's Choice in white, Red Heart in pink

The next project was one I didn't realize how much yarn I had available, and ended up having to change two-thirds of the way in. I can not find more yarn anywhere, and even though I'm 90% positive it came from Michael's, they don't carry anything like it anymore. It was supposed to be a knit knot bag that I found on Pinterest, but when I couldn't find the yarn to finish the handle, I decided to turn it in to a loose cowl. The wool is a little itchy for my taste (or it may just be sensitive skin due to pregnancy hormones), but I love the color and know it will keep someone's neck warm through a cold winter. I still plan to make the bag at some point, but I'll have to buy yarn to do that, and I have enough to keep busy with for now.

I'm still not done tying up loose ends (ha!), but the few projects I have left shouldn't take too much time, and then I'd like to focus solely on the boys' project. I've had all the materials to finish it for over a year, so I think it's time to get it off my plate and move on. I'll hopefully have the rest of my unfinished projects done over the next week or so, and then with an empty yarn bag, I can start posting photos of the big project. 

Do you have a hard time doing the finishing steps on your projects?

Something a Little Different

After finishing some Etsy projects and getting them sent off, I was finally able to put the finishing touches on several projects this weekend!

I had a lot of sewing to do to finish the gift for my father-in-law's request, but after a couple of hours and a few episodes of Property Brothers, I was able to hand it over this weekend. He was very impressed and thinks his coworker will be too. 

It was my first attempt at an afghan in crochet in years, and the last one I finished ended up being large enough to cover a king size bed, but, being inexperienced, it was very trapezoidal, instead of a nice, even rectangle. This one is small enough that I think it will be a good size for an infant to lay on, but not too big to put in a diaper bag to take on trips. I loved learning to make a chevron, and used this video for the pattern: ripple blanket. The little cars were my own design, but based on a photo from a Russian website I had seen on Pinterest.

The afghan itself is made with I Love This Yarn, all from skeins I had at home, and the cars are double thickness from Vanna's Choice I had at home as well. I am trying to use up as much of my yarn as possible this year, without buying more (which has already failed--another day, another story), so this project allowed me to do just that. I did have to buy 1 skein of the light blue, but I ended up using 2/3 of it as well, so I don't feel too bad about that. I love the little pocket in the lower right corner that fits the 3 little cars. I couldn't decide whether to add buttons to the outside, but opted not to, since the little guy may not be able to manipulate them for several years. I hope they like the gift.

I also finished the baby jester hat and got it in the mail this week, after frantically searching for the yarn. My usual yarn shop has stopped carrying it, so I had to order the Lion Brand Jamie yarn from Lion Brand, and was a little fearful it would not arrive in time. I accidentally purchased it in the wrong gender (one of the main reasons I hate buying yarn online), so I now have yarn to make one for our new little one if Blessing turns out to be a girl. I also overbought the boy yarn, so I can make one for another boy, as the odds are for males in our family.

Now, I finally get to work on some bigger projects for my own children. I started several projects as soon as we found out we're expecting, so I am working to finish those up, plus several other ideas I've got in the queue. I also have a little 1-year-old girl's birthday next weekend, so I will whip up a hat for part of her gift too. Any excuse I have to use up the pinks and purples in my yarn stash is welcome at this time, since I don't really have any other use for them... I'll also start working feverishly on the boys' project, and hopefully have some photos to share in the coming weeks.

It's a busy time, but I am feeling pretty confident about being able to get these things done, and hopefully before we start packing for a move this summer or fall. We'll be looking for a home to purchase in the coming months as well, so I might have a new place to store my yarn ;-)

Happy Easter and God bless!

Busy week!

I finally have a little more energy, now that we're in 2nd trimester of pregnancy, and I've got 3 commissioned projects ahead of me! After cleaning the heck out of the house yesterday to hopefully get rid of germs, I had an Etsy order for another NJ beard! I've sold 4 beards/viking hats to East Coasters over the last 3 months! I've been working on an adorable baby boy project for my father-in-law's coworker for a few weeks, which should be done with photos to post soon. And today, I got an order for an infant jester hat!

Along with the cute projects I have for my own new little bundle, I'd say I'll be busy for quite a while! We finally have some antibiotics in tow to help restore our little guys and the weather has been ridiculously mild the last several days, so between spending some much-needed time outdoors and my current projects, I'd say I've got my free time used up. I don't mind, though, because the beards go quickly, the jester hat is knit, which I've been sorely lacking on projects lately, and the baby boy project has been fun to learn something new. I'll post pics of all when they're done!

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather and crochet something springy :-D

Change of Plans...

I've decided I have to stop trying to play catch-up with all my projects, both personally and professionally, so I'm just going to lay it all out there today and move on. The boys' project is still sitting untouched in my craft area, because I have been busy making these:

The Vikings are landing August 2016!!

We're expecting a new little viking this summer! Along with the fatigue of first trimester pregnancy, I've had 2 little, very active 2-year-olds to entertain and try to keep healthy. All 4 of us are trying to get over a nasty respiratory illness that has pretty much taken us out of all non-essential activities the last 2 weeks...

Except house-hunting. We are currently looking for a much larger space to accommodate our growing family, with room to spare, because we love entertaining our friends and family as well. Most of the shopping is online, but we have been to a handful of showings for places with a lot of potential. We just haven't found The One yet...

Christmas stocking in Red Heart very berry, I Love This Yarn white, Red Heart leftover green, Yarn Bee fluff

So, with all of that going on, I haven't even set foot in my craft area for the last month (my calendar still says "January"!), but I have been busy creating some beautiful items for our new little one that I would like to share soon, like the stocking pictured. And, of course, the rite of passage seen above to welcome him or her to our little family. Now that I'm a little farther along and into the "golden era" of pregnancy that isn't quite so exhausting, I might be able to make a little progress on the project, at least so I can get a decent amount of it done to give them. I will probably end up cutting out a lot of it to spare myself the time and disappointment.

Anyway, that's the exciting news for now. Keeping everything gender-neutral for now, and I'm not even sure I want to know what the baby is until he or she comes. I guess it depends how I feel at that appointment. Take care and God bless!

Happy holidays!

Ah, Christmas. I love the weather, seeing my friends and families' faces light up as they open their gifts, and especially now seeing my children get excited to see the "pwetty lights" and open presents. I love the food, especially the fudge, the music, and the weather (usually--we finally got our first snow this week!). One of the unfortunate things about making all my own gifts is that it keeps me REALLY busy, even up to Christmas morning working on things. I guess I could start working on them earlier, or set my deadline a week ahead or something, but that is definitely not what happened this year. I literally sewed buttons on my sister-in-law's slippers after she opened them, since I had spent all morning sewing the cuffs on and didn't get to finish in time. It didn't help that I decided to crochet 3 hats for all the little boys at the last minute...

The great thing about the Christmas rush is, now everything is done! I can work on projects that I've put on the back burner for months and take my time. One of those projects is to update this blog more often, and tie up loose ends that I haven't done. First off, my craft space:

I know it doesn't look like much yet, but hopefully it will over the coming months. The best thing about it is, I have one! I have a place to store all my felt (in the black case at the bottom) for the boys' project (which has had little to no progress over the last weeks), all of my sharp utensils and dangerous items are stored up and away from little hands, and the lighting in there is wonderful, with the giant window to the right. I will have space on the peg board to store important items (like my college degree), calendar, and some fun inspirational quotes. I have plenty of storage for small items like sewing notions: there are hooks on the right that will hang spray painted cans, and the hanging basket for larger items. One of these days I will get it all organized and decorated, and then I will feel like I can work. 

As you may have guessed, the boys' project is not finished yet. I have a few finished items in the black box on the table, ready to be sewn together, but not yet enough to be paired. I plan to make 2016 my Year of Doing, as 2015 was my Year of Wanting, so I will get this project done before they get too old to enjoy it.

I still need to update with a couple of photos of the boys' birthday party decorations, so hopefully I can get that done in the next couple of weeks, then get back to posting about yarn. I've got several new items to add to my Etsy shop, so hopefully this month I can get some new listings posted. Keep checking back and I will hopefully have more consistent posts, with some new items and updates to oldies.

A belated merry Christmas and happiest New Year to you!

Nearly November...

We've been here for nearly 6 weeks now, and I still haven't gotten my craft room up and running the way I'd like. I've been sick for the greater part of that time with a nasty cough, volleyball season (which I referee) is now over, and preparations for the boys' birthday party next week are in full swing. With Halloween this weekend as well, I've had several Etsy orders for viking/dwarf beards, so I've been keeping busy. I haven't been able to complete much on the boys' birthday gifts, so I decided to make a new goal of Christmas gifts instead. They're only 2, so they won't remember that Mommy and Daddy didn't get them tons of toys, especially when they're bound to receive plenty from family and friends.

The boys' birthday theme this year is trains. That is all they've wanted to talk about the last 6 months, so I thought it would be a natural choice. They don't know who "Thomas" is because we don't watch television, but they love train sets, little magnetic train cars, going under train bridges, watching train videos on YouTube, reading books about trains, and of course, stopping at train tracks to wait for passing trains. I'll post photos of the party decorations up, but I found some really cute inspiration on Pinterest. I wasn't able to use all the cute graphics and "free printable" train stuff because I wanted to combine elements such as wording with photos, so I ended up designing my own using MS Paint. I think they turned out adorable!

The hats in their photos were from a crochet pattern I bought here. I tried and tried to find something similar for free, but every link I clicked led me back to this design, so I bit the bullet and purchased a pattern. They were very easy to make and I think they look fabulous on the boys, especially in their little overalls :-) I made them a little large, so hopefully they will fit their large heads for a year or two. They're Lily Sugar 'n Cream, which my dishtowels are made of, so I know they will be able to withstand MANY washes if need be. I'll have them on my Etsy site before long.

I have been able to get several of my handmade Christmas gifts done in the car on long trips recently. I found a really cute and simple pattern from JoAnn that I've been using, which has also helped use up some of my Vanna's Choice yarn. I'll have to wait until after Christmas to post photos, because someone might catch a sneak peek and spoil it. I have a pretty small budget for Christmas gifts ($25 a month throughout the year), so I'm trying to make a good blend of handmade/homemade and store-bought/experiences. The handmade take a little longer than gift cards or shopping, but I like being able to work on something and knowing that it is for someone I love. I hope they appreciate it as much as I enjoy giving it!

I've got winter squash to get in the oven for canning, so I should wrap this up. I can't believe it's almost time for turkeys and pies! I made my first attempts at jam this summer, and ended up with raspberry, blueberry, peach, and some tasty strawberry ice cream topping. We cracked open the raspberry this week, and it is better than anything I've tasted from the store. I'll be making pumpkin butter again this fall, and I just picked up a bushel of apples for apple butter and applesauce. I got smart and ordered an apple peeler this year, so no more peeling apples at the sink for hours. I might even feel brave enough to conjure up a pumpkin pie! At this rate, it'll be summer before I get the boys' gifts done...

Exciting Times

Sorry it's been a few weeks; we've been moving! We moved from a 900 sq foot 2-bedroom apartment to a 1200 sq foot 3-bedroom over the last 2 weeks, and we're nearly done unpacking. A box here, a shelf there, and it'll all hopefully be done by Sunday evening. The great thing about our new place (besides the extra space) is that it'll have a room designated specifically for crafting and playing! The boys will have plenty of space for their toys where we can supervise them while we work on our projects. My hubby is in to constructing and painting miniatures for Warhammer, and we were always fighting over the limited flat area in our other apartment. I will have a table and closet and a beautiful pegboard to keep my sewing and yarn supplies, and he will have a huge shelf to store his things from little fingers, as well as a secluded work area.

The new place has gorgeous views of the pool (which is closed now), a grassy area with a rarely-used tennis court, and lots of trees, which we both love! You can't see anyone else on their balcony from our place, so it really feels like we're out in the woods or overlooking our own backyard. We love it!

It's pretty overcast today or I would post pictures, but hopefully when we get the craft/play room up and running I'll post a pic or two. In the meantime, I got an order for another viking hat and beard combo from Etsy last night, so I'll be working on that as soon as we get the boxes unpacked. I'm looking forward to sharing my project for the boys' birthday (which is coming faster than I realize!) with you, and wrapping that up in time to start on Christmas gifts!

Have a blessed day and enjoy your weekend! Fall is in the air, and time for scarves and hats is soon upon us!