Drat!

I just realised that I cannot donate the booties to the auction . . . Bev’s got a specific instruction on that . . . sorry Jenn!  Thank goodness the blanket pattern has no such stipulations . . . and since the hat pattern is mine . . .

Hmm . . . think I could come up with a bootie pattern of my own to use?  Not sure . . . might have to see . . .

Sunshine

Well, I’ve not posted over here in a long time.  Simply put, it’s because I haven’t finished a project in a long time.  Well, with the exception of a few granny square facecloths for gifts that I didn’t have/take the time to take pictures of and post.

I have been working my fingers off trying to finish a project for work It’s been in the works since February, and I finished tonight!  Hopefully it will be able to be released in the upcoming Christmas in July promotion that she’s running.  I’ll let you know.

A few years ago Jenn called for handcrafted items to be donated for a silent auction to raise funds for one of the hospitals down in Utah.  I wasn’t able to donate anything that year, but made it a goal to donate something for a future auction.  Well, this year I made it a priority.

I started out by just making a baby blanket (pattern found here).  I used TLC Baby yarn in Powder Yellow and Powder Yellow Sparkle.  Since this is a sport-weight yarn, I ended up using an “H” hook and making the original chain 92 instead of the 62 she’s specified.  It worked up great!

I finished the blanket at Church last month and didn’t have another project with me.  (I crochet in Church meetings to help my mind focus on what the speakers are saying.  I feel fidgety when my hands aren’t busy.)  So, I decided to try to create a baby hat.  I think it turned out really well.  (The pattern is my own, so if you want it, feel free to let me know!)

So, after that, I had a blanket and a hat . . . of course I needed to make booties to go with!  I looked and looked and must have started at least 4 different patterns only to rip them apart when things started looking wonky.  I finally found this pattern and fell in love.  So easy and cute . . . as you can see in the picture below:

I’m so pleased with how the “layette” turned out.  I may just end up making one of these every year to donate to the auction . . . hopefully it will bring in a good donation to the hospital!

Erm . . . hi?

Firstly, thanks ever so much for the kind comments that were left with regards to my last post.  No change in employment status, but I think I’m handling things a wee bit better now.

I finished Christopher’s blanket on 23 April.

This is James holding it up.  As you can see, it’s a good long blanket . . . hopefully will last Buddy a LONG time!

I’ve realised in creating this stitching blog, I’ve kinda limited myself in what I can (or THINK I can) talk about.  I was going to create myself another blog here on WordPress, but my darling husband surprised me by creating this

Kate’s Blog

As you can see, we’re still in the building process.  Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  That will become my main bloggity-blog, but I will keep this one for posting pics of my finished projects.  Perhaps in time, it will become a “home page” for selling my work . . . we’ll see how many people may or may not be interested in various crocheted blankets, ponchos or cross-stitched “paintings”.

Hope to see you at my new blog soon!

God bless!

Progress/Regress

So this is what the blanket looked like in relation to Christopher yesterday.

I COULD have finished it right there as you can see, but I’m kinda OCD.  There are 127 single stitches across on this blanket . . . so I’m making it 127 rows long.  It has to match . . . I don’t know why, but it just needs to! LOL

In other news, I’m struggling.  After my birth mother died, I had a stress reaction of major migraines.  This go-round of stress, I’m slipping (or maybe it’s falling) into a pretty bad depression.  I’m not sure which option is worse.

I just wish that this was over, or that I had some sort of clue what is going to happen.  In the mean time, I’m feeling like I don’t “belong” anywhere, incredibly lonely, and just . . . invisible . . . I KNOW that’s not true . . . I KNOW it.  I just don’t FEEL it right now.

Sorry to be a downer.

what a tangled web we . . . crochet?

No picture today . . . only got a few rows worked on Christopher’s blanket because when I went to pull up some more yarn, I got a HUGE rat’s nest as it were . . . was able to untangle it without having to cut the yarn, but still . . . it’s frustrating . . . I’ve had to untangle about 3 of these already . . . and they’re not small.

This is the time in a project that I start cursing (or at least grumbling) at the machines that wind the yarn.  Don’t you think there should be some way to avoid such “knottiness” (sorry, couldn’t resist).  Or maybe it’s the way I’m trying to use the yarn?

For those of you who knit/crochet, which end do you start with?  Do you find the end in the middle of the ball and pull from the inside, or do you start with the outside and work in?  As a self-taught crocheter, I guess I never learned the “right way” . . . or if there’s even a right way?

Opinions please!

In other news, Confernece was AMAZING!   I’m so glad that I got to participate in the solemn assembly to sustain President Monson on Saturday morning.  When the entire RS stood, I just got choked up . . . what an amazing thing to know that my dear sisters all around the world were standing and raising their hands to the square at the EXACT SAME TIME as me! :)  What power!

To a little less spiritual subject . . . Friday night we did indeed have a bit of a family date . . . went to our favourite buffet restaurant . . . but didn’t take that walk . . . it had started flurry-ing . . . and on Saturday morning, I woke up to this view outside my front door:  (keep in mind also that nearly all of our snow had previously melted)

And it got worse as the day went on . . . Luckily it was above 0 the past 2 days and so it’s starting to melt again.  Wednesday it’s supposed to get up to 8 (46 for you Yanks), so hopefully it’ll be gone FOR GOOD by the weekend!

God Bless!

~Kate~

PS ~ not sure what’s up . . . but WordPress “ate” my cool font . . . anyone know how/if I can change that . . . ?

even more slacker?

~4 April~

I know, I know . . . I’ve been a HORRID blogger lately . . . I went on holiday for Easter . . . LOVED visiting with family and miss them tons already . . . but it’s been difficult to get back into the swing of things so to speak.

I decided to put fringe on the ponchos . . . I think it adds a certain playful dimension, don’t you?

And, I know I did the poll, but it ended up being tied . . . and I had a WIP that I wanted to see if I could make portable (I ended up emptying out my backpack and sticking the huge ball of yarn in there . . . and voila!) because I want to finish this blanket in time for Christopher’s birthday next month.

This was started on 20 March and this is my progress as of 1 April . . . less than 2 weeks later . . . as you can see it’s working up FAST!  Hooray!

I got the pattern from http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=2395, but ended up having to correct the 2nd row . . . so if you ever use the pattern, make note that the 2nd row needs SINGLE crochets and not doubles . . . otherwise your pattern ends up looking wonky . . .

Today is the last day of spring break . . . and I hope it will be nice . . . Fridays we usually have a ‘family date’ and it would be nice to take a walk in there sometime too. 

Of course, this weekend is General Conference and I’m excited for that.  It will be strange not to have President Hinckley there, but I know President Monson is the Lord’s chosen prophet for us now and I’m looking forward to what he’ll be teaching us . . .

Have a wonderful weekend and I promise I’ll be back on Monday . . . Someone want to email me a reminder Sunday night? LOL

Slacker!

~16 March~

 So, little miss N DID sleep very well on Thursday, and I almost was able to finish the blanket.  Only reason I didn’t finish at work on Thursday . . . I ran out of the “Florals” partway through THE LAST ROW!!!! GAH!  Luckily we were able to find a “skein” of that colourway at Zellers on Thursday, so I finished stitching the blanket that day.

A BIG thank-you to kidneybean!  I don’t know why it hadn’t occured to me to weave the ends in both ways . . . that made all the difference!   Of course, the ones I HADN’T done that way are frayed a little still, so I picked up some Fray Check at Michaels yesterday and that should do just fine.

My next projects are almost finished too.  Of course, they are significantly easier than the blanket.  Baby K, the one who the blanket is for, has 2 big sisters and I wanted to make them something too, so they don’t feel like K gets everything.  So, I am stitching up some quick ponchos for them.  The pattern is essentially my own . . . just 2 simple 60×15 double crocheted rectangles sewn together like this. http://www.timmelfabrics.com/deirdreponcho.jpg

(yarn used ~ undetermined (iow I can’t remember which) worsted-weight brand in off-white)

I wanted to add something to the ponchos to coordinate with K’s blanket, so I did a search for free crochet flower patterns, and came up with this one http://crochet.about.com/od/flowers/ss/flowerwties.htm.  I love how it has ties . . . makes it a cinch to attatch them to the ponchos . . . They are SOOO easy to make and very cute, don’t you think?

I haven’t finished the poncho for little miss S, but since it will be the same as miss Z’s, I think one picture will suffice.

To answer a few questions and incredulities . . . we found Christopher some boots on Thursday.  We found a pair in the correct size, and they rang up at $5 . . . for that price, who CARES if we move somewhere where he won’t use them next winter!  Gotta love clearance prices!

Yes, both my birth sister and I have hearing loss . . . and of the same mixed type, which is unusal enough that they attribute it to genetics, though they can’t trace the loss to anyone in our ancestry . . . I’m HOPING that by this Wednesday I’ll have “normal-for-me” hearing so that the test results can be trusted and the powers-that-be can advise me on what kind of aid(s) I’ll need.  Of course, this means that we’ll no longer be under the “umbrella” of James’ extended health benefits because they expire 2 weeks after his official layoff date . . . and the cutoff date is this Friday. 

Okay . . . I’m going to take a vote.  What crochet project should I work on next after finishing Miss S’s poncho?  A blanket to donate to a friend’s charity auction, or an “elegant lace stole”?  Neither have “finish-by” dates in the near future, so it really doesn’t matter which I do . . .

A New Blog

In my search for free crochet and cross stitch patterns, as well as for various “tricks of the trade”, I’ve come across quite a few stitching blogs, and been really impressed with them.  So of course, I decided to take the plunge into the world of stitching blogs . . . and I’m looking forward to sharing with you what I’m working on!

By the very nature of this blog, it will be heavily pictured, but will not be solely so.  I am going to post every day in a journal-type mode, detailing the day’s escapades in stitchery, and probably even a few of my own thoughts on what the day has brought.  I will probably even leave links for various free patterns I’ve found and used.  I anticipate having a WIP picture once a day . . . but at least every other day. 

With that said, here’s my first WIP picture:

 ~11 March 2008~ 

This is a *baby blanket I’ve been working on for a dear friend of mine.  I was thinking about using it as my contribution for another friend’s charity auction this summer, but I think I want a more gender-neutral blanket for that one.  I think this pattern is turning out pretty well, but I’m having problems with the ends fraying where I’ve stitched them back into the blanket when switching colours . . . any ideas on how to fix that?

*blanket stitched using pattern found at http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/cp2.html, using a 4.5 mm hook with Bernat Satin in “Florals” and “Stardust”