Holy shit! She crochets!

I dedicate this post to Deneen, just to fulfill her prediction.

Anyways, as you may have guessed by my title, I do, in fact, remember how to crochet. I've actually been utilizing my talent, too! There was a period there where I wasn't inspired to pick up a hook... Think it has/had something to do with the damn collared cardigan, which still isn't completed, BTW. I sewed one sleeve on all wonky and still haven't gotten the rev sc edge, even though the collar is finally complete.

I've been sticking with small projects, rebuilding my confidence... I churned out a few angel dishcloths for a co-worker who has a fixation with angels. [Thanks to Jessi for the pattern!] I used three different weights of cotton - one from Lily Sugar N Cream, and the other two from two different sizes of FoxFibre Organic Cotton.

I also stitched up a little blanket for baby Emma... I bought the yarn for it, Bernat Cotton Tots, as soon as I found out she was a girl [months ago!]. I totally forgot about it until she came along, two weeks early! I wanted it to be something warm and thick enough to be functional and not have her fingers get stuck in it, but also open enough to only use three skeins of yarn. I settled on a hdc V-stitch. Although I previously had negative feelings towards the hdc, I'm coming to find I enjoy it more and more. My thoughts used to be that it was a pointless, yarn wasting stitch, but I now realize it has possiblities beyond either the sc or dc. I finished this blanket up with my old standby, the rev sc edging. Simple, clean, classic. I'm just not a frilly edge type of gal.

I have to admit that I'm a little peeved with the way the Secret Sistahs swap is going... I've asked everyone to email me but have only heard from a few. I'm upset that this isn't running as smoothly as possible, and that I would even have to worry about expectations not being met. That was the whole fucking point of this!! Ugh. I can't even go on about that one.

My funky mood has pretty much departed. I think honestly all I needed was to spend a little money... it's amazing what a trip to the bookstore will do for me! I'm also *really* looking forward to school starting next week [whoda thought?] because it means no more 40 hr. work weeks at Crazies, Inc. I am just not ready to be working full time, especially doing what I do at a place like that with people like those for $8 fucking dollars an hour. Hell no. I didn't even make enough money to keep myself happy last paycheck - literally! When I'm broke I'm miserable - it's not that I spend a lot of money or anything, it's just that when I want something, I like to be able to go get it.

So, when Kris got paid he gave me some much appreciated cash and i went and indulged a bit - I picked up the 2006 Crochet Pattern A Day calendar and Family Circle's Easy Crochet [can't find a link for that one, sorry]. I was really happy to have scored them but have to say I'm not thrilled with either. The calendar is so so... I think it's cool I know so many of the designers but it's like a compendium of internet patterns, y'know... although there are some neat things, the quality isn't consistant. The thing that *really* bugs me is that they lied about the yarns used!! Some of the photos are so obviously Red Heart but they say it's Louet Top Merino or whatever... my ass!! And Easy Crochet is nice - nicer than Crochet! or most other crochet mags - but the patterns don't thrill me personally. I think the cutest ones are the ones that use knitting, also. The retro ones are pretty much all available online in their original form, lol! I dunno, I'm on the fence with this one. I think I'll like Interweave's Crochet more.

I also got to spend some cash over at Knit Pixie, courtesy of my summer pal at C'Ville. She was pretty much deadbeat but sent this in time to stay off the Shame List. I'm not going to complain about free yarn, though! I picked out some of the all HEMP 3 and also some Hempton Fine. I can't wait for it to come, I've already got uses planned for this yarn.

Ever since Deneen made the call for submissions to the 2007 Pattern a Day calendar, I've been busy mentally designing. My Hippie Hat pattern is already acceoted, but I'd like to submit a few more. Since I'm on a small projects kick, I decided to start with a shopping bag that I've been thinking up for a while. I have the stitch pattern worked up already, and hope to have a tester pattern together by the end of the weekend. Wish me luck!

My mom's painting our house this weekend... She's already got the living room done. We went from no color sterile grey to a nice, rich sage green. I *really* like it. I have a before and an after. Even though the quality for these pics isn't the best, you should get the idea. The color really makes the room look great. [Pictures of the kitchen to follow.]

I was able to find a decent amount of copies of Easy Crochet at my JoAnn's... even though I gave it a less-than-stellar review I know others have really thought highly of it. I stashed a couple copies and would be willing to grab them for anyone who's interested, as long as I can get them. All I want for them is the cost of the magazine, $5.99, no shipping cuz I can do it for free. Drop me an email if you're interested.

Alright, I've rambled on long enough, and I have my whole family barking at me to use the computer, so I gotta run. Bye bye!!