Auld Lang Syne

Good bye 2008, hello 2009!
I was thinking we are just passing through this world...each of us leaving our mark on it, I like to think I have made a little ripple in the pond this past year. I hope 2009 brings many opportunities.

It's obvious that my knitting needles and crochet hooks have been very busy this past year! And Hobby Lobby has dedicated the yarn aisle to me! My head is full of so many ideas that there is no way I could find the time to do them all, but I can focus and bring a few of those ideas to life!


Happy New Year!

Maya's Blanket

Oh how sad Phoebe has been these past few days. I am sure she is grieving over JD, they had become very close buds! She has roamed the house looking for him...laid around just staring into space, and been very clingy. I snapped this picture at lunchtime. Today is her first day alone without him or us there...and I believe you can see it on her face! Needless to say, Brad and I have both been the same way.



Before I get too emotional, I wanted to share the blanket I made for my niece. I finished it up yesterday, and was praying for a day of sunshine so I could get some good pictures of it. It is just as bright as it appears in these pictures! My original plan was to make more hotpads, but when I had completed about three squares and laid them out together I knew at that instant that they were destined to be a blanket!

I crocheted nine granny square panels, each with eleven rounds, using yarns from my leftovers basket. I did have to run pick up some more green because I had used up what I had, but other than that it's all from leftovers! And I am happy to say, I still have a basket brimming over with most of these yarns!

Here it is stretched out over my kitchen table. This little blanket sucks me in...if it's in the room I find myself staring at it. All that color, and with the sun shining on it, it just lights up!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a Great Christmas! Ours has been wonderful...although we are missing our little JD!

Here are some squares I have been working on with intention of making more hotpads, but when I laid them out on the table, well, they are just telling me they would rather go into a blanket...and I was thinking, my little niece Maya, is in need of a baby afghan from her Aunt Dawnie! I know this isn't the classic "baby" colors, but it is very soft, and what baby wouldn't like gazing at all this color!!! Who knows, maybe it will plant that creative seed in her to become an artist!
Christmas Eve, I opened a package from my folks, and this was inside!! I love this rooster! My mom knows me so well! She said when she saw it she knew she had to get it for me. Thanks mom! I have a pretty good collection of roosters, and I think this one is my new favorite!



One more peek at my squares before signing off. I have five done, and will do four more and then join them...and with a long holiday weekend I can easily see it being finished!

Peace Out!

Lil' JD...I sure do miss you.

Yesterday we lost little JD. He was so sweet and the best little companion. My little guy was almost 18...he had gotten so feeble. I sure miss him!

Small Plarn Tote Bag

What a way to recycle! Right? So, in a way I am doing my part and keeping those plastic bags out of the landfill!

This was a custom order for my boss. He had seen the other plarn bag I made and requested one a bit smaller he could give his girlfriend. I think it turned out very nice! I used Hobby Lobby bags. I cinched the upper sides to give the bag some shape. I definitely want to make some more of these if I can get some more "plarn" made...that's what takes most of my time in making the bag.

Two days until Christmas!! I still have one more gift to get, and some wrapping to do! And a new recipe I want to make for Christmas Eve. I'm ready for it...and looking forward to some time with my family.

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Just Be Happy... Lots of fun to tell you all a little bit more about myself and also to learn about you!

Here is how it goes: 1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. 5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. Six random things about Fiddlesticks:

1. I am the oldest of five children and grew up in a happy home! To this day when all my brothers and sisters get together, it can get quite entertaining!

2. I divorced in 2001 after a 14 year marriage at the age of 39, and had no children, after picking myself up, dusting myself off and moving on (which took some time!) I met a great guy and we just got married in July! We have a nice little home and my new husband doesn't complain a bit about the piles of yarn I have everywhere!

3. I am a Deputy City Clerk...how I got here I have no idea! I have a degree in commercial art and advertising design...and I somehow seem to use my training everyday! I am pretty happy with doing the "clerk" thing during the day, and letting my creativity flow when I am not at work!

4. I learned to crochet when I was a kid by my grandmother, who taught me granny squares. I love to knit as well, but I have a special passion for crochet. I would sit and practice for hours, making potholders for my mom and little blankies. Both my grandmothers were extremely talented with a crochet hook, so I think I come by it honestly! In my projects I love to use a lot of color...working with one color or yarn bores me and I can lose interest so easily!

5. I think the internet is the greatest invention ever!! Through etsy, flickr, and facebook I have come to meet so many talented people, who inspire me daily!

6. I love Captain Morgan's Rum, Steak, anything chocolate, a good salad, muscadine wine, old black and white movies, a comfy pair of pajamas, Friday evenings, and my little wienie dog Phoebie, (which most have seen here on my blog and on flickr!)

Here are others I am interested in hearing about!

1. Little Purl of the Orient
2. Blue Berry Junkie
3. Poncho liners and 100 mph tape
4. Crochet Goddess
5. Diddle Daddle Designs
6. Eu só quero ser feliz

Seems like yesterday!


And here I am today!

Soon to be 47, and I find that the older I get the less I am concerned about those petty things that used to bother me, like dirty dishes, or a bad hair day - this is so cool! I find in interesting to watch myself change with age!

Reversible Hot Pad

I crafted these hot pads to give to the gals at the office. Needless to say, I am now obsessed with crocheting these!! I love the bright colors, and the fact that they are reversible and look totally different when you flip them over. These make great pot holders, but I also like them to set my plants on or that special piece of pottery!!

I'm thinking my mom and sisters need a couple of these!





How pretty my teapot looks sitting on this little hot pad!

I'm a hooka! :-)

As much as I like to be inspired, I love to inspire! Here are some of my creations made from just a simple granny square!


Enjoy!

Scrappy Goodness

I just love my basket full of left over yarn from other projects! It's amazing what can come out of those scraps. I knit up this scarf using leftovers. Cast on 200 stitches so it would be nice and long and knit in strips of color, each separated by a row of white, by k2 tog, wrap yarn around the needle (I am much better at actually knitting these stitches than typing them out!) The white row creates a criss-cross pattern.


I am making hot pads or you could call them pot holders for the girls at work. These are so much fun to work on...I get addicted to them. Of course, I am using up scrap yarn, so they are very bright! I can see these squares put together for an afghan...it would look awesome!!! I crochet eleven rounds to create the square, then fold in each corner and seam them together. You can actually see one completed in the picture below. I know the girls are going to love these!





I have accomplished so much this weekend. Just about finished up my Christmas shopping! And gave the house a good cleaning, I mean I even took down the window scarves and washed them, took down the pictures and cleaned them...and steam cleaned the carpet! Needless to say, my lower back is feeling the aftermath, but it is so nice to get up on Monday morning for work and have the house clean and in order!!!

It is going to be a busy week, and I am sure it will fly by!

Some Crochet Inspiration

Just a small posting showing some crochet inspiration from my flickr friends. I have found an astonishing amount of talent there, and am inspired by it all!

Christmas Time

Here's a little portion of my tree. It's a little table top tree with all of my handmade ornaments. I especially love my little cross stitched Santas!

I have been reminiscing alot about how excited we would get at Christmas time. There are five kids in my family, so you can imagine the excitement! How much fun that was...it was magical! I still love this time of year, but miss that "childlike" excitement it used to have.

Funky Cold Medina Scarf!

I made this scarf for one of my buddies at work. She went nuts over my potato chip scarf...so I thought this would be perfect for her for Christmas! Well, this thing grew as I was knitting it! I kept running out of yarn...so it is full of different yarns. It's very funky and fuzzy, and long!!!!


Personally, I would wear it!!! I think it would look great with a classic black turtle neck sweater and a pair of jeans, and boots! I can see her in it now!



I don't know if you can tell, but there is a lot of blue/purple in the scarf, and the edges are red/orange. I used some recycled sari yarn (and run out) some funky eyelash yarn (which I ran out of) and trimmed it off with a really thin yarn that was fuzzy.



It's truly funky!!! I would love feed back from everyone reading this on your opinion!! In the meantime, I need to start on another scarf for another coworker. This girl loves the color pink, so I am thinking pinks with an accent of black. Not sure if I will crochet or knit it...I am leaning for just a simple garter knit scarf where I change the colors through out.

Finished! My Super Knitting Tote!

I get so excited when I finish a project. This is truly an original! Once I finish up one of my bags I always find things I would do differently, for instance, if I were to do this again, I would make the strap a little shorter. But I love the color and shape and the traditional black bordered granny square design. It reminds me of a carpet bag you would carry on a train to travel across the old west.


Can you tell how big it is??! I cannot believe how much I can pack into this baby! Notice the flat bottom...and it stays that way. I sandwiched three sheets of plastic canvas and sealed them in a crocheted envelope...so this is strong and can hold some weight. I also fully lined the bag with a crocheted liner. It gives the bag a great shape.


You can see how I cinched the sides with a chain stitch cord which I laced through the top portion of the bag. I like the effect this gives and I can always loosen it if I need more room!


You can see a skein of yarn lurking doen in the bottom of the bag. I could probably put about 9 skeins of yarn in this bag comfortably!!

Now that I have this done, I am free to work on a few Christmas goodies. I think once Christmas has passed I will drag out my Babette blanket and get it finished up. It always feels so good to finish up a project! :-D

Busy Little Christmas Hands!

Okay, I know I do not have time to make a scarf for everyone on my list, but I am giving it my best try! :-D I do have a select few that I would like to make a scarf for...so here are my efforts so far. I crocheted this green scarf up in two evenings, and I love it. It is so soft! I had been saving that nubby variegated yarn for some time now. I used an oversized hook so this is a really soft and squishy scarf. (I have more of this yarn in blues...and am jonesing to use it!)





This is a simple garter stitch scarf. I love making these, using about four different yarns and watching a color pattern come to life. And of course, I had to add the nubby crocheted fringies...it's a must!



This is called "I love this scarf" that I made a while back. It has been so hard to get a good picture of this to reflect the true color of the yarn. This one is not bad...The yarn is from Hobby Lobby by Yarn Bee...it escapes me at the moment what it's called. I experimented with the fringe on this one and created this bullion fringe and like how it turned out, and was pretty impressed at how easy it was to do!



Update!!! Last night I finished my granny square knitting tote! I am hoping for some sunshine in the next day or two to get some good pictures to post! With that done, now I can focus on some more little Christmas projects...you know, there are only 24 days left!

Crocheted Ornaments

I don't quite know what to call these little ornaments. They aren't really snowflakes...kinda a cross between a snowflake and a granny square! Aren't they fun. I came up with these this past weekend. I had other things I could have worked on, but I was bored, and the idea for these ornaments has been lurking in my head for a little while now. I used embroidery floss and a small crochet hook for these. They look great on a Christmas tree. I like them in Christmas colors but would also like to try them in some jewel tone colors and maybe add some beads.


These are actually double sided, meaning the ornament is actually two grannies crocheted together, so it has a neat weight to it. I especially like the octagon-shaped ornament.




With Christmas coming soon I can't seem to focus, I have so many projects I want to get done in time for Christmas! Scarves to make, ornaments, and a couple other little goodies. Let's hope the long Thanksgiving weekend will give some time to do some of these things!

Large Knitting Tote!

Yes, it is big!! But I plan on filling this fella full of yarn and projects so I can tote them with me wherever I go! Right now I have the outer shell done. I am working on a reinforcement for the bottom of the bag, and then a fully crocheted liner. Trust me, you could run over this bad boy with a truck and it wouldn't hurt it!

I am extremely pleased with how well the colors look together. It's exactly as I had visioned. And I would guess this bag is a good 30 inches deep. I have a pillow stuffed in it to take this picture!

I have an extremely busy weekend coming up, so I doubt I'll get to work on it much this week, and I need to put some focus on out new etsy shop...hopefully we will have some items listed this week!

An Amazing Man

This video made such an impression on me...I think everyone should watch it!

Fun Distraction

I have to admit, I have been slightly distracted the past couple of weeks! My crochet has sat next to my chair on idle for a few days now. So today I got back into the groove and am working on my granny square tote bag with hopes of finishing it up soon.

In the meantime, my sister-in-law and I have decided to open an etsy shop to sell some of our cards. I love making cards and the idea of selling them sounds like fun. From there it has grown...Rhonda was talking about recycling in our crafts and was wanting to do something with the huge mountain of plastic grocery bags she had accumulated. I had a good size mountain as well! So, we got busy making some "plarn"! It's time consuming, but kind of fun, mindless busy work...which I love since it keeps my hands busy.

I crocheted up a nice size tote bag using Food Lion and Walmart bags. Actually it took longer to make the "plarn" than it did to work up the bag!



I'm quite pleased with the way this has turned out! Some of these will definitely go into our new etsy shop!

So my mind has been busy with creating some "upcycled" items for the new shop. I had a couple of wine bottles I had been saving with hopes of making something out of them. I got this idea from a girl I work with!




















I had a hard time getting a decent photo of this, but it gets the general idea across. I strung a strand of 20 miniature lights into the bottle through a hole I had drilled in the back. Added some artificial grapes, some ribbon, and a glass ornament at the top. Perfect Christmas gift for a wine lover.

So, now I am soliciting everyone I know for empty wine bottles! And I have all kinds of ideas of how to dress these bottles.

It would be so nice if I had more time to work on these things, but a full time job and life in general has to be tended to first!

Since Thanksgiving is coming and Fall is here, I have been sprucing up the house to cozy it up for the cooler fall nights. This is my favorite time of year! And here in NC, the colors have put on a beautiful show this fall!



















A corner of the living room. I filled up this urn with fall silks I have collected over the years!















I made this up in a matter of minutes using some artificial pumpkins I had, fall leaves, and a basket that was given to me! It's a pretty good size and sits next to the entry way to the living room. I added some miniature lights in the leaves and it glows! I think once Christmas gets closer I will take this apart and use the basket for some kind of Holiday arrangement. I've been picking up pine cones and think they would be so pretty in this basket.

It's raining outside, very dark, and a definite chill is in the air...I got on my comfy pj's and slippers and am headed towards my favorite seat in the house with my favorite quilt, and thinking I'll pick up my crochet hook for awhile until I head for bed! Sound a little bit like heaven?! It does to me!

Granny Square Tote Bag

I have my squares done and I am starting the assembly of my new tote bag. I would say this is the favorite step for me, I love stitching my squares together. Most don't like this part, but not me, it instantly transforms the squares. Did I say this bag is for myself? Yup, it's all mine! I have wanted an oversized tote to drag my projects around in with room for a couple of books possibly a snack, and whatever else I can fit in it!

I am lovin the colors. Half the fun is the designing as I go. I've never been one to draw things out although I do have a good picture in my brain of what I am wanting.
Sunday evening I got all my grannies stitched together, then cast on with some black yarn for the bottom of the bag. This step is simply knitting a seed stitch on circular needles.


I will probably continue this until I get it about 4 to 5 inches wide then bind it off and begin the bottom of the bag. I want the bottom to be flat and very sturdy! I plan on using this baby!!
It's only Wednesday...so maybe by the weekend I will get to finish this up! The seed stitch bores me a bit, so I am a bit slow with this part.

Meanwhile, here is some crochet inspiration I wanted to post for future use!

I thought this was so pretty! It looks like it is done in about five different colors...it's very impressive! The square looks fairly simple, but I bet it eats up some yarn.

Pretty...pretty...pretty. The colors in this are gorgeous.

Now this is just plain yummy! It's full of color and looks so soft.

Scarfi-goodness

This past week I found myself feeling strange after finishing up my afghan! I do not do well on idle, so I dived into my yarn stash and started making granny squares. These are truly an addiction, and any of you who have learned how to crochet one and put together a scarf, blanket or anything with them will understand what I mean by addiction. Flickr alone has many groups dedicated to the granny square. I find them fascinating! They can be manipulated into just about anything from clothing, to linens, to blankets...the list is endless as well as the colors!

Well, I picked up my crochet hook, and by the end of the week I had finished up three scarves! Each one individual and one of a kind, showing off their granny squareness!

Check'em out!!

This one reminds me of a Granny Smith Apple with its bright green and red colors!


I used some great homespun yarn in this one. The green homespun has "fuzzies" in it which almost look like wooly worms.


This one reminds me of milk chocolate. I used two tones of brown with it and popped it up with red and hot pink.

These have gone straight into my etsy shop! I noticed a lot of granny square scarves listed on etsy lately so I am not sure how well they will do...but I love them, and maybe someone out there will love them and want them as much as I do! (I did make myself a granny square scarf, too!)

Sunday afternoon, I found myself staring again at a basket of leftovers from my last afghan. I love these colors so much, and have been "jonesing" to make something with those traditional squares edged in black... you know, the ones like our grandmas used to make!? So, I grabbed a couple skeins of black I had tucked away and commenced to putting colors together! The addiction continues!

JUST LOOK AT THOSE COLORS! I have an idea for a new bag in my head, and these have inspired me...so the creative process has begun! I will post more photos as I work on this as I did with the diaper bag!

Here's hoping for a good productive week, with a little time to squeeze in some more of these little squares!

FRIDAY NIGHT LEFT OVERS

Now these are my kinda leftovers! Believe it or not, I crocheted up this little scarf in one evening! Friday evening we put a movie in the dvd player, and I decided I would like to do some granny squares while watching a movie. (Honestly, if I don't have something to work on while watching t.v. I'll fall asleep!) This is some yarn I had leftover from my latest wrap/scarf that was calling to me! I crocheted my squares together as I went along, which I normally don't do. It turned out so cute - and it's all mine! I plan on wearing this one this fall and winter. I do have a couple more in the works for my etsy shop.

These are both going to be really cute when I get them finished up. My goal is to get them done this week. I have been on such a crochet kick lately. And this weekend I got so much done! These two scarves were started...a finished scarf on Friday night, and I also picked up the Lambs Pride I have been holding and started experimenting with it.

I love the colors in this Lambs Pride. They are so vibrant. I was thinking of a little blanket for one of my nieces, but this has too much wool in it, it's just not baby friendly. They do look very girlie though!


So at this point, I am not sure where I am going with these. I have asked some of my flickr buddies for suggestions, so we'll see! They are so full of creative ideas...I love my flickr friends!

Okay, the weekend wouldn't be complete without getting Phoebe into the act, and since I had the camera out, and the light on the covered porch was perfect, I took advantage. I rarely get a bad picture of her. I posed her on my afghan...she looks so pretty! She has to indulge me since Brad won't let me take his picture and there are no kids in the house.



Just look at that face! I suppose those that don't have children can understand how I spoil this little creature. She has brought so much life into the house.

Sunday evening is here, and I'm starting to think about work, and the week ahead. I hope it will be a good week. My low carbing is doing very well and I am in the zone! It takes a while to get your body there. I've been on it about three weeks now. I haven't actually stepped on the scale to check my progress. I do better if I don't. I can gauge my success perfectly from a pair of jeans I have in the closet!!! I'm getting there!

You see that chocolate candy in the background of Brad's? It isn't even tempting me!