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!