This & That

Yesterday a fellow hooker/knitter and I went to the Knit & Crochet Show in Concord, NC.   We had a blast!   Below are a couple of crocheted afghans which literally made my jaw drop!  

This was so inspirational!!  I saw granny squares and some awesome crochet as well as knitting.  

Check out this owl!!  He was crocheted over a large beach ball.  Adorable!!

These skirts were layered and knit up in a linen yarn.  I was eyeballing this really close!

My iPhone did an update yesterday, and I have to say, I am completely fascinated with the upgrade, especially to the camera.  I have been snapping pictures all day until I completely drained the battery.

I took these at my dad's.  His yard looks like a park!!  

Now that is some true fall Carolina Blue sky!!  

Mum's in the back yard!  Aren't they pretty??!

Some kind of mold growing on some old wood.

Girlie looking extremely happy and enjoying the day!!

Leaves on the sidewalk....I love these colors!!

I have started writing up the pattern for the Laura's Wrap.  So many of you have sent me messages through ravelry and this blog asking for a pattern....well it is in the works now!!  In order for me to write up the pattern I have to actually sit down and knit one up as I go.

I believe it is going to be just as pretty as the original!!  This is a little sneak peek!!!  Hopefully it will not take me but a couple more weeks to get it finished up and ready.  I have some more crocheting I want to do, so I am working hard to get this done so I can get back to my hook!!!

Time is flying by way too fast!!!  The weeks are just speeding by.   We have a lot of rain heading our way...so it looks like it may be a dark dreary Monday tomorrow.  Oh well...

Crocheted Sugar Skulls

This is what happens when you get a slight case of insomnia!!  I crocheted up five of these last night.  Who doesn't like sugar skulls??!! 

This afternoon I had an idea with how to finish them off.   I was completely distracted from my housework by this time.  LOL!  

I thought they would be cute appliqued on a granny square. 

And granny squares make perfect potholders!!!!  Now how cute is this??

If you would like the pattern for the little skull you can find it here.  It is an awesome little tutorial and will take all of 30 minutes to bang one out.  The fun part is adding the little flowers and bows!!

I thought they turned out so cute.  The would also be cute appliqued onto a crocheted cap, or a purse.  I have seen some blinged out with buttons and some embroidery too.  

I have also kept myself busy making more pumpkins.  I did a bit of experimenting.  If you use two strands of yarn and a larger hook, you get what you see below!  They mix well with the smaller size!

More leaves and pumpkins!  They are everywhere!  These are headed to a knew home at my sister's house!  

It is time to think about winding down and get ready to start a new week.  It has been a gorgeous weekend.  I hate to see it end!!

Everyone take care!

Noro Fall Leaves

Oh yeah!  I totally went there!!  Aren't they cool??  And these haven't even been blocked yet!! 

 

I am completely out of control, to the point my hands hurt from holding the crochet hook for hours at a time!

 

LOL...And I plan to be right back at it this evening! 

 

Pumpkin Porn

Welcome to my pumpkin patch!  As you can see, I have been busy with pumpkins and leaves. 

And what goes best with pumpkins?  Owlies! 

Last week I shared a link for the little crocheted pumpkins, and I see some of you have been making them.  I decided to add some leaves to mine I thought it dressed them up a bit.  I found this pattern for the maple leaves here.  The name of her etsy shot is Golden Lucy Crafts.  I love her patterns!  These leaves look complicated, but her pattern makes it so easy, I can make one up in about 40 minutes. 

 

I love the little green one.  With all this "pumpkin porn" I filled up my etsy shop and started making more for myself.   This is such a great way to use up that leftover acrylic yarn we all have.  I am tempted to run out and pick up some more yellow because I am just about out.  I keep telling myself I don't need it, but then the other side of my brain tells me I DO need it.  LOL

I did a search on pinterest for "crochet leaves."  Holy Crap!  There is some cool stuff on there I want to try. 

Just for fun I did a little Jack-o-Lantern to go with the "Franken-owl".  Notice the little bolts coming out the side of his head!  LOL! 

As promised, I wanted to share my finished sweater with everyone.  I have the buttons on it, it has been blocked, and I have even worn it once already!

 It fits me perfectly.  I can wear it like this..... or....

with the collar up.  I have learned so much from knitting this!!  If anyone is new to knitting sweaters I would definitely suggest this pattern.  Look, I even got brave and added pockets!

I am off of here for now.  I am sure I will be back next week with some more crochet.

Dawn

 

Pun-kins!!

It's Pumpkin Time!  And before it's all through I will have a house full of these little guys.  I love making them.  I want to put some bling on them, but just can't decide what exactly to do.

Last year I did knit some, which I will probably do again.  For now I am enjoying the colors of the yarn and my crochet hook.  If you want the pattern, you can find it here.   It works up easily and quickly!

Fall is in the air here.  It was down in the 50s last night.  Feels so good!  I finished my sweater, but still have buttons to sew in before I post it.  I can't wait to show it off!

After all the knitting I have done I am in a crochet mood.  Too bad I am not in a clean your house mood, because mine could really use it!  LOL!

I think I need some little acorns and some leaves to go with these pumpkins.  

I hope everyone has a good week!!  Back to the salt mines tomorrow!

Bye!!

My First Sweater!

Yay!!  My first "official" sweater complete!!  And I love it!  The yarn worked out a little wacky, but I still love it anyway!  

I found this super-duper easy pattern over at "Dances with Wool".   It worked up beautifully.  I made my cardigan a little longer, and also the arms and cuffs are a little longer too.   It is a raglan knit from the top down.  I find the medium size to be dead on.

You can actually see the way the yarn worked up.  Believe it or not, this is actually one yarn!!  It looked like a completely different yarn when I got to the end of the skein.  

What I learned from making this:  

• It would be easy to custom this to a larger size.  You can try it on as you go to make sure it fits right under the arms.
• It would be very easy to make a standing collar by doing several rows of k2, p2 ribbing before you start the increases.
• Also the placket for the buttons could easily widened for larger buttons.  
• Stripes would be pretty or using two shades of yarn every two rows!
• I used a k2, p2 ribbing on the sleeves and cuffs, I prefer the look.
• Once you have made one, you will have to do another!!

As you can tell I loved this.  I have always wanted to make a sweater, and it actually be something that I would wear!  And this pattern has giving me knitting courage to try more complicated ones.  

It will definitely be my "go to" sweater!

I also wanted to share pictures of the shawl I finished up awhile back.  

I used the flower loom to do the flowers and then crocheted them together using some black crocheted cotton I had on hand.  

It took more time than I thought it would, and I started to get burned out before I finished it.  Joining the flowers got a little monotonous and something that required more concentration than I had.  If you look close you will see little places where the joining is off.

It would  be pretty over a black turtle neck.  I am thinking I may put this in my etsy shop.  

So, now I am in full sweater mode, and have already begun another!  LOL!  I am so ready for fall and sweater weather!

Before I go, here is a picture of me in my sweater!!  Isn't it cute!

I'm off for now.  Have tomorrow off for Labor Day so I have a whole day to do what ever I want. Who can guess what that will be?   LOL!

I'm Here!!

Hey Y'all!!  I am here and doing just fine!  I know I have been MIA.  Thanks for all the emails asking if I am ok.  I truly feel the bloggy love.  For some reason I find the dog days of summer a bit depressing, and I have been feeling it again this summer.  Although floating in the pool at my folks' house does help (must be the Vitamin D I have been soaking up from the sun) does help chase away the summer blahs.  The stresses of just every day to day life, a sick mother-in-law, a stressed out hubs, a full time job...I can go on a bit...just left me a bit burned out. 

But I am here, and with a smile on my face!



And I have been busy making socks!!  I was determined this year to learn making socks and to sharpen my skills.  I have always been in awe of sock knitters and so intimidated by their skills.  So, as you can see below, I have been working on it.

I have learned so much!!  I love toe up socks!  And now I can't stop looking at sock patterns on ravelry and dreaming about all the sock yarn at SAFF this fall!!!

 

My mom turned 75 last week!  I told her I was taking a day off of work and we would go do something fun.  I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said I want to go to Joanne's Fabric and look at patterns.  We had a blast!!  As you can see she loaded up her cart with some goodies.  Afterwards we went to lunch.  It was such a fun day!

This evening I realized that the locusts were not buzzing quite as loud as they were yesterday and I could hear soft humming of the crickets.  It sounded like fall to me.  I know there are still some summer days left, but I can feel that beginning of summer ending and fall beginning.  And I love this, because I love the fall1  Everything about it.  I feel so good in the fall...I love the colors, the feel of the air, the outdoor fall festivals, pumpkins.  I could go on and on.  Seems fitting that I should start working on a sweater.  A first for me!!  I hope to have it ready to wear this fall, too!  

I have plans to add some scarves and hats to my etsy shop and knit and crochet up some little pumpkins and leaves!