Windy City Chicago...

This is a hat/scarf set I made because I *loved* the pattern and colors in the yarn that the pattern was made with. The pattern is from the "Little Box of Crocheted Hats and Scarves"


I gave it to one of my cousins as a Christmas present. I think she liked it, cause she put the scarf on right away and was wearing it the rest of the night!

Please help with a worthy cause:

A friend of mine (Sara) and I are participating in a race in February (http://psmarathon.com). She's crazy and doing the half-marathon, while I am only slightly less crazy and participating in the 5k.

The cause that this race is raising money for is one that is near and dear to Sara's heart, so instead of making my OWN fundraising page, I decided to help her out by sending the link to HER page to some of my friends and family.

This is what Sara has to say about this cause:
"I'm currently training for a half marathon and am raising money to
help buy wheelchairs for people in third world countries that would
otherwise be immobile. It costs just $44.40 to buy 1 wheelchair. I'm
trying to raise enough to buy 10. If you can help, check out my
fundraising site!"
Click here to link to her site!

If you are able to, we'd love for you to contribute to this cause, but please don't feel obligated to if it is beyond your ability to give at this time.

Thank you!
Jennifer

Because I just don't have enough things to do...

... around my condo - things like: UNPACK, finish painting, clean, fix a couple light fixtures, finish crocheting some christmas gifts, write christmas cards, etc. - tonight, i added ANOTHER project!

At least this one was quick and fun!

Background: I bought a small tree (yay! it's fake, but I've never had a tree at my own place before and wasn't sure how the kitties would treat it!) but the star i bought for the top was too heavy and i didn't see any lighter ones anywhere (at least ones I liked).

So tonight, while I was at Michael's buying a crochet hook (I swear, that's ALL I went in to buy!!) I had a brainstorm! Ended up buying the crochet hook, a wreath for my front door, and a ton of craft supplies to make a 'non-traditional' tree topper...check it out:

It looks much better with a baby wearing it...

Mackenzie Jean, 8 lbs. 4 ounces, 20 inches, 11/23/06 (born thanksgiving morning! now THAT's something to be thankful for!)

Washcloths and soap....

For my sister-in-law's baby shower I handmade some of the door prizes. I made 'spa cloths' and soap. I only took a couple pics on my own camera at the shower, as my SIL wanted me to take lots of pics on HER camera. (Cara, if you're reading this - I need copies of those pictures to add to this blog!!!) These are the only pictures I have and you can't really see the washcloth or soap: This is my sister in law with my aunt (who one the first of the door prizes)




I also can now reveal pictures of the adorable pink sweater and shoes I crocheted for the new niece:

more non-crochet related pics...

Here are more pictures of my new condo.

I took these yesterday at the home inspection.

http://tinyurl.com/gasxh

I just need to find a place to stash my stash and I'm set! :)
I had hoped the window seat in the living room would have storage under it, but no luck there!

Not crochet related...

But still pretty big news in my life!

I just bought a condo!!! OMG!! it's not a totally done deal yet, but assuming all inspections and appraisals pass, i will be a HOMEOWNER by the end of October!!!!!!
It's a really cute unit, not quite as large as where I am now. But only a few sq. feet smaller, so it's not too bad. I *LOVE* that it has a private garage! Woohoo! It's in not quite as nice a neighborhood as I am in now, but where I am now is REALLY nice, and someday I will be able to afford a place in that kind of neighborhood!

This is the info from the realtor.com listing:
Gated Tri-Level luxury bright townhome with all newer upgrades. Bamboo floors, high ceilings, kitchen has granite, tile floors, stove, dishwasher, microwave, refridge, newer carpet, newer paint, both bedrooms with own bath, lot's of closet space, newer fixtures, private 2 car garage with direct access, washer & dryer, complex offers pool and spa!
Condo/Townhome/Coop Property, County: Los Angeles, Year Built: 1982, Two story, Central air conditioning, Community swimming pool(s), Community spa/hot tub(s), Hardwood floors
•Condo/Townhome/Coop Property
•County: Los Angeles
•Year Built: 1982
•2 total bedroom(s)
•2.5 total bath(s)
•Approximately 1160 sq. ft.
•Two story•Type: Townhouse
•Style: Traditional
•Family room
•Hardwood floors
•2 car garage
•Heating features: Central electric, Central gas
•Central air conditioning
•Interior features: Dishwasher, Disposal, Oven-gas, Microwave, Refrigerator, Range-gas, Dining area, Breakfast bar, Formal dining room, Carpeting, Tile flooring, Laundry in garage, Laundry gas hook-up
•Exterior features: Curbs, Fencing-block, Fencing-wood, Fencing-wrought iron, Lawn-front, Lawn-rear, Garage door opener, Sidewalks, Sprinklers-Automatic, Sprinklers-Front, Sprinklers-Rear, Sprinklers-Side, Street Lights, Streets-Paved, Streets/Public, Sewer-in Street, Utilities/220 Electric, Utilities/Cable TV, Utilities/Gas, Water/Public Utility
•Exterior construction: Stucco/Wood
•Roofing: Composition shingle
•Community park(s)
•Community spa/hot tub(s)
•Community swimming pool(s)
•Pets allowed
•Zoning: R4
Here are the pics from the listing:

Something a little different...

In my quest to find new and fun things to crochet, I decided the next frontier to explore was WIRE crochet! So, I ordered a couple books that finally arrived last night. And after a quick dash to Michael's, and a little time spent getting the feel of the wire, this is what I ended up with:

Monkeying Around!

So...it's finally finished! (ok..except for the thousands of ends I still need to weave in!) Here are pics of the completed monkey blanket -

Almost done!

Well...the top secret project I posted last time has been put on the back burner for now, because I started working on another project. This is a baby hat and blanket for my soon-to-be-born niece! I have it ALMOST done, just need to finish 2 sides of the border and make and attach the two monkey faces to the blanket. This is the Sock Monkey Blanket from the Stitch 'n Bitch Happy Hooker book. Here are pics:


My "Cat in the Hat." I have never made my cats model my creations before, but I couldn't resist with how cute this was!


Sammy was at Stitch 'n Bitch the night I finished my hat, so I got to try it on a real live baby! The only thing cuter than this hat is the baby it's on!


All the squares are done and whipstitched together!


Closer look at the squares.


Last round of the border almost complete!!


Close up of the border.

This is made with mostly Bernat Softee Chunky. This is the 2nd or 3rd project I have made with this yarn and I *love* it, it's soft, sturdy and SO easy to work with.

Pics of My Current (top secret) WIP...

Well, mostly pics of one of my less-than-camera-shy cats, and a bit of crocheted stuff in the background. I'd tell you what the crocheted item is, but then i'd have to sic the cat on you!

Shadow guarding...er...staking his claim on this mystery-crocheted item....


"I just don't understand why she'd want to take pictures of a bunch of yellow yarn, when *I* am right here!" ~ Shadow

And lest she think I like Shadow better, here is Scout posing for her centerfold -

Next finished project...

A friend of mine is going through some major health issues. One of them is a fibroid in her uterus. We were discussing the crocheted/knitted uterus' I've seen online and I told her I would send her a link to some pictures of them, but when looking them up, I realized just HOW simple the pattern was, and I made her her very own fibroid-free crocheted uterus!

I finally finished something, and it "felt" so good!

Yay! FINALLY! I have another FO! woohoo. I have been wanting to try felting, and found this pattern --> for a cute little hat.

I thought it would be fun to make for my mother for her birthday (mom...if you're reading this...STOP now!) She sometimes has 'red hat' luncheons with friends, and I thought it would look cute in red and purple for her to wear to those lunches.
This is the picture from the website of what this hat should look like "before" felting (left) next to what MY version of the hat looked like "before" felting (right)-





Ok...so being still relatively new to this crochet thing, I made a little mistake when making this hat. The instructions were a little bit confusing to me, and I didn't notice this until reviewing them -- and after crocheting about half the shell rows with purple fun fur --that the 'contrasting eyelash yarn' was supposed to be 100% mohair or wool. Oops. Because, you see, 'fun fur' ISN'T 100% mohair. Hmm...I had to make a decision, do I continue on, or frog it? I decided to continue on, becuase fun fur isn't "fun" to frog. Had I been a more experienced crocheter, I might have done something like modify the pattern by either using a mohair for most/some of the rest of the repeats, only do one row of eyelash yarn for every 2 rows of wool or some other sort of modification. What this boils down to, is that the eyelash yarn didn't shrink up like the wool did, so I am going to have to tack up the shell rows to 'shrink' them down, because as they are, they are a little too much of the hat!

For perspective, here's what the hat looks like worn before felting -

Here is the finished picture of my hat - on the left, the picture from the website showing what it 'should' look like, on the right my version. I think it turned out pretty good for a first try at felting!







I am going to have to go in and trim up the fun fur that is peeking out from the inside of the brim, and I haven't tacked up the rows of shells to shorten them yet, but overall I am really pleased with how it came out. I was very nervous when putting it in the washing machine, not sure if I should just trust that it's going to come out ok, but it did! woohoo!!!

This is a picture of the 'fancy hatblock' I used to shape the hat - it's made from a kitchen canister with a mixing bowl on top of it. (note the specialty clips that I used to hold the brim in place *grin*)

Can I just say I am in LOVE with felting! It's like magic! And I still have most of a skein of the red wool to use up 'experimenting' with more felting! Yay!

Now I can get on to finishing one of the other millon projects I have sitting around.

Long time, no post...

I've been told I need to update this site, but I haven't finished anything recently. I have about 6 WIPs, but no FOs! Work has been keeping me very, very busy, and I have only had time to crochet at SnB on Thursday nights. I really, really want to find more time to work on things, as I recently purchased the Happy Hooker book and want to make like eleventy-million of the things in it, but alas, earning a paycheck must come first! And I even have a really fancy cool new camera to take pictures, once I actually finish something!

Here are a couple photos I've taken the last couple weeks at SnB of other people actually making things they will someday finish! (Or have probably finished already!)

Here is Ellenwith her latest Seraphina -

And Crystal with the adorable bear she's knitting -

More Madness...

The last gift I finished (I had planned to make a different hat/scarf for the sis-in-law, but a fever of over 103 for 2 days nixed that getting done!) was for my mom. I started this project in August and finished at the Stitch 'n Bitch 3 weeks before Christmas. It's an afghan from a book called "Thick and Quick Afghans". It may be thick, but 4 months to complete isn't all that quick to me! It's made with Homespun in Mediterranean/Rococo/Ranch and Chenille Quick and Thick Basil. The Ranch was a real tough find. I purchased 2 of the needed 3 skeins at the only local place I could find to get it - JoAnn's. And it was 3 months before they had more of that color in. But luckily, it was the same dye lot!!! By the time I found it at JoAnn's again, I had realized that "duh, I should order it online!!" and I made one last stop at JoAnn's before planning on going home that night to order it online, and they finally had it!! woohoo!




(My mom enjoying her new throw!)