Hurray, a break!

I know, I know, and no it isn't.  I know I said that I wouldn't start on the frilly scarf until I was done with the serape.  I know I said I was using that yarn to get through the serape.  As you can probably guess from my previous statements, the serape isn't done.

I ran out of yarn....

My mom and I had guessed at 10 skeins for the whole thing.  Well, I am almost half way into number 7 and I'm not half-way done with it.  Another problem is that most places I have checked for more are either sold out or don't carry it.  I'm going to do more hunting tomorrow.

As a reward for getting so much done (I only started it on the 30th of last month) I decided to bust-out the reward yarn.

This is what I have done so far.  As of right now the reds and pinks wants to all try and be on one side.  I'm fine with that.  What I wasn't fine with before was how it was looking.

All the ones I've seen are all puffy and frilly and fun.  Mine wanted to look like a funny-colored spiral.  I tried going into every loop, just made a small and tight spiral.  I then tried every other loop, just made a bigger the floppier spiral, but still no ruffles.  While they might have come later in the project, I didn't want to risk it.

Here is what I did:

I cast on using every other loop and tucked the tail while I was doing that.

The next row I knit using ever other loop, but the row after that I used every loop.

I'm going to knit 4 rows using every other loop and have the 5th be in every loop.  I like how it looks so far.

I also need "good luck" thoughts on finding more yarn for the serape...

It helps to keep me going...

As some of you, who know me in person, know; I am knitting a serape.  Not only that, it is a boring one.  The person I'm making it for works as a dish washer at the restaurant that the Wed night group used to go to.  For a list of reasons, the group doesn't meet there Wed nights anymore.  Some of us go there still on our own, but not en-mass like we used to.
My mom and I still go there and our usual server told us that one of the dish washers has always wanted a hand-knit sweater or serape.  Since I was the only one in the group to have ever made a sweater I was voluntold that I should be the one to knit it.  I tried to suggest a serape to the group to get all the attention off of me, but it didn't work.
At first I thought it wouldn't be too bad, all the serapes I've seen pictures of tend to be nice and colorful and I thought that would be fun to knit.  Turns out he wants it to be black with a bit of dark blue on the area around the head/neck opening.  So now I'm knitting a giant black thing.  It is pretty much a plain blanket with a slit in the middle. Ugh.  I added a seed-stitch boarder around the thing in hopes that I don't have to move instead of admitting that I couldn't finish the thing even if he gave me 5 years to finish it.
Another thing I did to motivate myself was to buy some fun yarn.  I've put it in the bag with all the black yarn so that I see it often.  I've told myself that I'm not allowed to knit with this yarn until I finish the serape.

This is what I got.  I am falling for the trend of these silly scarves.  I planned to make this for charity  so I made sure to get a color scheme I didn't care for.  While I do love purple, I do not care for that green.  I know someone out there will love every inch of it and know that Red Heart choose this color scheme just for them, but that person isn't me.
I also know that these scarves aren't very warm, but that's not always what people need.  If this was taken to a battered womens shelter and it made someone feel pretty and special again, then it totally did its job.

Not something for charity, but something nice

I made this for my mom since it has become a tradition that I knit her an ornament for Christmas.  After the big day I posted pictures of it on my FB page and on Ravelry.  I was asked what the pattern was, and since it was more of a "making it up as I go along" I posted the general thing I did on Ravelry.  Since it is out in the world and not a big secret, I figured I could post it on here too.
Who knows, one of you could find somewhere to donate these to and it would be wonderful for someone.  Or you could just make a bunch and give them to loved ones once the season has come back around.


Simple but Frilly Ornament

80 mm ormanent
Caron Simply Soft yarn
Red Heart Boutique Ribbons yarn
US size 7-8 needles (~4.75 sts per inch with yarn)

Cast on 4 sts.
R1: Kfb around (8 sts)
R2: K8
R3: Kfb around (16 sts)
R4: K16
R5: *kfb, k* around (24 sts)
R6: k24 adding ribbon yarn
R7: *kfb, k2* around  without ribbon yarn (32 sts)
R8: K32 with ribbon yarn

Keep increasing by 8 sts with just the yarn and then knitting a plain row with the ribbon yarn until it almost fits over half your ornament with a tiny bit of stretching (56 sts for one in picture)

Knit one round straight with just the yarn
Knit one round with both yarn and the ribbon

Decrease in a similar manner as the increasing by doing it on a just yarn row and by decreases 8 sts evenly around the circle.
Make sure to slip work onto ornament before opening gets to be too small.

Since I didn't add the ribbon yarn until I had a few rows established there is a bald spot on the bottom of the ornament, I didn't as much because I was working on this the night before and was making it up as I went along. If you care more, you could add the ribbon yarn on row 2, the first plain row.

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I'm also amused by the date, 1/3/13.  Haha, I'm easily amused!  This might happen a lot...

2012

Here is a quick list of everything I got done in the year of 2012

Crochet: 5

~Baby Booties:

Tootsie Wraps Crochet Baby Booties

~Baby Sweater/Jacket:

Hexagon Jacket

~Hats:

Dino Hat

~Scarves:

Old Meets New Granny Square Scarf

Zig-Zag Scarf

Knit: 14
~Baby Sweater/Jacket:

Baby Surprise Jacket

Very Versatile Top Down Cardigan

Girly Girl Caplet

~Hand Covers:

Simple Braided Mitts (turned mittens)

Foxgloves

Foxgloves with fake fingers

~Hats:

Leafy Tops Hat

Faux Cables

Karkauspäivän Pipo - Leap Day Hat

Cabled Scarf-hat

Beasty Beanie

Chutes Beanie

Dropped Stitch Hat

~Scarves:

Sherbet Smush

Got another one done in time!

I thought that I was done for the year, but it turns out I was wrong!

These are actually a combination of patterns.  The main hand is from Foxgloves(Ravelry link), but the bind-off is from Phalangees.  I love this way of binding off finger-less mitts!  I don't like how fiddly doing short fingers can be (I've tried it) but I also don't like how the top of finger-less mitts gape after you move your hand.  This fixes everything!  I had to do a bit of math to get the stitch-count to work, but I think they turned out pretty good.

Originally they were going to be for me, but I made the hand-part a bit too long. Oh well, I have my eye on some fall colored yarn to make myself a similar pair.

End of the year push!

Here are some of the things I was able to get done before the year went and slipped away from me.
Now I've noticed something about my posts.  They are a lot shorter than I had planned.  I had thought that I would share about a bunch of things and that there would also be pictures.  It seems, in reality, that I pretty much go "look what I made!"
As I was working at my day job I stumbled upon an interesting looking book: 642 Things to Write Journal
I thought something like that would be a fun project I could post on my other blog.  Then I realized that I really, really don't need to try and give myself another project.  I have my small business I'm trying to get re-started, this charity blog, and geocaching to try and juggle.  After thinking it over for a bit, I realized that I could add that as a project.  I could do a bit of writing and then post my usual "look what I made!" on here.
Here is where I stand on it now.  I'm thinking I shoudl try and send the people responsible for the book before I do anything to make sure it is okay with them that I slowly post their entire book online.  What if they say 'no'?  Then I could just post on both Craftster and NaNoWriMo asking for interesting questions or things to write about.
"A houseplant is dying.  Tell it why it needs to live."
How awesome is that?  I suggest that everyone go out and buy 642 Things to Write!

...and now onto the "look what I made" part of this post!

This is the Chutes Beanie I did as a test knit and actually found an error in how the pattern was written!  Very fun to knit and comes in a bunch of sizes.

Remember this from a good long while ago?  My Girly Girl Caplet is finally completely done!  It finally got a hook and loop attached to the inside near the top.  If I knit this again I think I will add three buttons to it instead of the hook.

I was teaching classes at work about the "old" granny square and the "new" granny square at different times. I thought that a granny square scarf would be cute, but I couldn't decide on just one, so I used both!

I know I mentioned that it was done before, but I never took a good picture of it!

I didn't start this Zig-Zag scarf, but since I had no directions to go by or anything I will count it.  It took me forever to realize it was done in half-double crochet!

It is really neat to see this Hexagon Jacket come together as you crochet the hexagons!  It is kinda magical!  I added a crab-stitch boarder, but that may have made the collar area a bit stiff.

I was at work making the sample for the stitch of the month.  It was a fun dropped stitch pattern.  I decided that it would make a really cute hat!  Instead of knitting it back and forth I went in the round and twisted the knit stitches.  It can make any size as long as your stitch count is divisible by 8.

These Tootsie Wraps Crochet Baby Booties don't look like much here, but they look adorable on an actual baby-foot, I swear!  I just don't have any around I am able to use.

That is everything I have been able to finish since my last update!

Falling behind on updates...

I've actually finished a few things, but seem to have forgotten to share them! While this sounds like a post that will have some finished items and some links for you to follow if you want to make them, it is not.
I will post some pictures, but I have too many things that are soooo close to being done that I will put off posting about the ones that are fully done to try and motivate myself to finish the last few things.

 

Sleeve of a crochet baby jacket.

 

 

Part of a crochet fashion scarf.