The One Where I Discuss Washcloths, At Length. Because My Life is Just That Exciting.

So, I mentioned the other day that I had signed up for the summer cotton yarn swap at Crochetville ... and I tantalized you with pictures of my washcloth in the Wild!

Lately I have been on a bit of a washcloth-making-kick. They are fun for several reasons: a) You can try out new stitch patterns on a small-scale b) they are very portable (even into the rugged terrain near the middle fork of the Payette River!); c) They make nice and soft, yet scrubby and absorbent washcloths for the kitchen (yes, I did just make up the adjective "scrubby"); d) they are great instant-gratification projects for me and my ADD; e) they are fun to put in spa-themed packages for use with skin care or bath stuff; and last, but certainly not least ... f) I found this BEAUTIFUL cotton yarn at Michael's the other day!!! (editors note: I had to include a picture of the yarn from the Lily website, cuz my camera sucks right now. But soon there will be beautiful pictures of this yarn in all sorts of wonderful crocheted creations!!)

Look at the gorgeous color of this yarn. It is Lily Sugar 'n Cream (in a big huge skein!! Not those little balls!) in "Robin Egg Blue" (and the yarn is a bit lighter than this in person ... this picture is more teal or turquoise, and the actual yarn is more aqua, IMHO, but ANYWAYS,). I am obsessed with this aqua-y, spa-blue-y, robin-egg-y color lately ... I have a new bedspread (sort-of seen here in the background of my crochet picture) very similar to this color ... and I just love it. So I had to buy the yarn when I saw it at Michael's, which means ... lots of washcloths! (I guess I could make something a little more "cool" with it but for now I am on this washcloth kick)

Anyways, that brings me to my story about this washcloth that I made:

Looks pretty simple, right? You would think. But no. I made it all sorts of complex. So, the stitch pattern I used makes one row that has a wavy edge, and then one row that makes the edge straight again. So, the foundation chain is straight, the edges are straight of course, but for some reason I ended with the wavy row, instead of doing the last straight row to finish . I finished that wavy row, cut my yarn, and began my single crochet edging. Not complicated at all. I had single crocheted the foundation chain and all the way up one edge and was about to round the corner when I realized that the top was all wavy. So ... straight sides, straight bottom edge ... and wavy top. Not good. So ... instead of unraveling my edging that I had done so far in order to back up and do that last row (cuz I am lazy!) I decided that I would just pause where I was ... I unraveled quite a bit of yarn from my ball and cut it. Then I had this little separate ball that was still attached to my in-progress edging, but my yarn was free to re-attach to my corner and add that one last row to make the edge straight. So, joined my yarn, added my last row, edge was straight, so I continued on with my edging. Rounded the corner, edged both remaining sides and made it back to the original corner. But I still had quite a bit of yarn in my little mini-ball that I had cut off. I decided that I had enough yarn left to make another round of single crochet (I am a daredevil like that! I live on the edge!), so I continued on around my washcloth a second time ... but of course I ran out of yarn in my little mini-ball of yarn about 5 stitches from the end of that round. So, I joined in yarn from my big ball (again) and finished those 5 stitches. So, to summarize: in a stupid little washcloth where I SHOULD have been able to finish with one yarn join ... I had three separate yarn joins. which means like 3 times as many yarn ends to weave in ... geez. But of course the saga of the pain-in-the-ass washcloth has a happy ending ... you can't even tell that I messed it up repeatedly. Looks cute. And here is another washcloth that I finished recently (There are more to show, but my camera died immediately after taking these):

The One With Crochet in The Wild!

Last weekend The Technician and I went camping ... just for one night, just the two of us. It was a nice relaxing time away from the kids and work and school and chores ...

We hiked and roasted hot dogs and had a campfire ... but mostly we had only two things on our agenda:

While T. did this:

I sat on the bank of the river and did lots of this:

I signed up for the summer cotton yarn swap over at crochetville, and I am thinking that some hand-crocheted wash cloths with some yummy soaps might be good "extras" to include for my swap partner. So that is what I worked on while T. fished ... it was lovely. We hiked around until T found a "really good fishing hole" and I sat on a rock or a log and crocheted ... I took breaks to take pictures (one picture-addict in our family MIGHT have taken almost 300 photos in just a one-night camping trip ... but that person shall remain nameless) and just sit back and take in our beautiful surroundings ... and then when T decided that the "really good fishing hole" was not-so-good after all, we hiked until we found the next "great" fishing hole ... I was not so picky, however. Every location was a "really great" crochet spot!

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from the weekend:

The One With Simple Summer Pleasures

* My Blue Hydrangeas are going to bloom again! This makes me absurdly happy. Hydrangeas really are a classy, yet friendly flower. And blues of all kinds are my favorite color. So I cannot wait. I have been going outside everyday and whispering sweet nothings into the leaves of my blue hydrangeas.




* And right next to the almost-blooming hydrangeas, we have beautiful blooming pink geraniums!




* Light, lemony-garlic shrimp and angel hair pasta for dinner ...




* Springy colored crochet!




Summer time just seems more relaxed ... friendly. Even though I have just as much (if not more) stuff to do and take care of ... just the warm breezes and the pretty pink flowers ... makes me stop and take a moment and relax, even if just for a moment. What are your simple summer pleasures?

The One Where I Neglect MANY Responsibilities and Instead, Blog

I have this habit of neglecting necessary responsibilities, work, chores. I KNOW that if I would do them a bit at a time, a few minutes here, a few minutes there ... it wouldn't be bad at all. No piling up, no mountain of tasks to climb ... but yet I do not do them a little at a time. I pretend they don't exist. I read blogs (the latest one that I am stalking, Posie is seriously interfering with my responsibilities. But I LOVE HER. I want to go to Portland and go shopping for fabric with her, and crochet with her, and hang out in her studio. But I digress.) I crochet. I watch TiVoed Desperate Housewives (OHMYGOD!! I love Desperate Housewives. I want to marry Mike. He is so SO cute. And Susan is my favorite. And as much as I start to like Edie, she is just so manipulative and it makes me so mad. And Lynette ... LYNETTE!! You were playing a very dangerous game there! WHAT THE HELL?!?! You and Tom have such a great marriage!! WHY would you jeopardize it like that?!? But I digress. Again.). And the next thing I know, I have this monstrous to-do list of stuff that I just DO NOT WANT TO DO. I DON'T WANNA. And it is overwhelming, and makes me want to curl up under the covers and watch Friends on DVD and pretend like that is all I have to do in the world. Which of course makes the whole thing worse. I wonder how old you have to be to stop being such a whiny, pouty little baby about responsibility and just get off your ass and get it done, because it has to be done, and get on with life? I wonder. Today is my 28th birthday ... which sounds old to me ... but I don't feel old. I don't even feel like an adult, many days. Including today.

ANYway ... I have been up to my usual crafting ADD ... I will share pics tomorrow or later tonight when I get home. But here is a sample, just so you all realize the extent of the ADD:

1. I finished the big sister blanket. I have decided that I do not like it. I am going to give it to charity I think. I have never liked variegated yarn (self-striping yarn is MAGIC!! I love me some self-striping yarn. But not variegated yarn.) For some reason I decided that I liked the variegated yarn that I made the big sister blanket in at the beginning of the project ... and I now that it is done, I don't hate it ... but I just don't think it is gift material, now that it is complete. So ... giving it to a charity at some point.

2. I have since started another ripple ... this one with yarn out of my stash, Bernat Softee-Chunky in Pale Antique Rose, Grey Heather, Medium Sea Green, and Black. I made a pattern from the random stripe generator and it is so cute. This MIGHT turn into the new big sister blanket, because it is much cuter, however might not be big enough ... I will see.

3. I have one (1) half-finished BICO sweater, meant for the twins. However, it is now warm, springtime weather. Might be frogging it to make them bigger.

4. Still no progress on the two baby blankets for the twins.

5. I have felted the SWS pillow, but not stuffed or sewed it together. I felted it a LOT and it turned out to be very thick and smaller than I expected ... but I didn't really pay attention to the felting ... it will still be a cute finished pillow someday. Man, I suck. I should maybe finish something once in a while.

6. I have started several other crochet projects since my last post also. Of course. I have a half-finished doily. I have a barely-started unidentified project, another ripple, in thread. I have an almost finished bookmark that is a Mother's Day present. (Yes, Mother's Day was Sunday. I am a bit behind. ADD I tell you.)

7. This has nothing to do with crochet, but I really should go back and put links in this post ... but I am too lazy. I don't WANNA. So maybe later. Update: Ok, I added links. Before I posted even ... now if I could just go finish some crochet projects!

However ... on another, more fun note ... Kristy tagged me! Yay! A first for me in blog-land! So, here goes:

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

So, seven facts about me:

1. Today is my birthday! I already mentioned that, but, I think it is worth mentioning again!! Happy Birthday to me!

2. I got a sewing machine for my birthday from the Technician! Because I do not already have enough half finished craft projects lying around!

3. For Mother's Day, from T. and the boys, I got an ottoman, which opens so that I can store YARN. Love it. I received this only because T. is tired of my huge, overflowing basket ... (ok, maybe it is more like an overflowing corner) of yarn in the living room.

4. I don't feel like I am old enough to be a mom. I have been a mom for four years now, but yet ... at Mother's Day I still feel like I am pretending to be the mommy. Don't you have to be a grown up to be the mommy? I still feel like a kid sometimes ...

5. I drink coffee year round. Hot coffee. It is currently 89 degrees outside ... and I am drinking some delicious coffee. It is totally a comfort food for me.

6. I have this pet-peeve about grammar and spelling. I am far from perfect with grammar and spelling ... but I use spell check! And I form complete sentences (generally speaking)! I never cease to be amazed at adult professionals in my workplace that cannot form coherent thoughts in a written email. Or even a presentation! (fragment! But I did it on purpose! I am not at work!)

7. I often wonder (and awe at) what people used to do before email existed. I mean ... at work, I email people who are in the next room, just so that I don't have to get up and go into their office ... or call them. I love email. A few weeks ago a (somewhat older) employee in another office across the country decided to PRINT OUT a 200-page spreadsheet and mark it up in PEN and FedEx it (overnight!) instead of emailing the spreadsheet back to me. What is this, 1985? The whole thing made me wonder ... what did people do before email? FedEx? Or, (God forbid) walk down the hall? Geez.

Ok ... so for my tagging I am going to choose people whose blogs I read, but I am not sure any of them ever read my blog ... so hopefully they won't get the comment and wonder, "who is this crazy Jessica girl, and why is she tagging me? Doesn't she have any of her own blog-friends?"

So:
1. Alicia (My newest blog stalkee! You are so cute! I would feel like I was acknowledged by a celebrity if you would do my stupid meme!)
2. Jessica (I am partial to Jessica's! We have to stick together!)
3. Whippersnapper (Do I know your real name? Did I just miss it on your blog? Or are you incognito? ;-) )
4. Jayme (You haven't posted in MONTHS!! Maybe I can trick you into posting by tagging you?)
5. Tiffany (In your list of seven things, can we get an update on the Double Wedding Ring Quilt/Afghan? I have been dying to see it progress!)
6. Catheryn (One of my fellow crochetvillagers! I love seeing your beautiful work!)
7. Tama (I know you just did this a few days ago ... don't hate me!)

So ... thanks for playing everyone!

The One Where I Whine

So ... work is insanely busy. School is insanely busy. Kids are busy. The Technician is working on extra projects and stuff at work, and therefore he is extremely busy. Why can't the world just LEAVE ME ALONE to blog and crochet and scrapbook? THESE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE!!

Okay ... so I have been doing a little bit of crocheting and some decorating. But not as much crafty stuff as I would like.

I finished the big-sister blanket a while ago, but have yet to take a picture of the completed project. But I will someday (if everyone will just LEAVE. ME. ALONE.) and I will post it. I have also started two Baby It's Cold Outside baby sweaters from CrochetMe for the twins. But again, no pictures of those.

What I DO have pictures of are not quite as exciting. But at least it is proof that I still crochet ... occasionally ... when I am not working/studying/watching T-ball/making dinner/paying bills/cleaining the bathroom/working more/studying more/whining ...

First: Some charity squares that I sent off to Kathy from Crochetville. She is making lapghans for a patients at a brain trauma hospital where her son is at. (You can read about her son's journey here)


These solid color squares were made from the Lovely in Lavender square pattern that I found on Crochet Pattern Central. I love this pattern, and I will use it again. The fpdc adds interesting texture to a pretty standard square.

Second: What will be a pillow for our bed, to match the new beautiful duvet cover that I bought last weekend!! I am making this with 3 ball of Paton's SWS, in natural blue. I am going to felt it and then stuff it and it will be SO. CUTE. on our new bed (note the cute light blue/aqua color of said duvet cover under crochet)

I just love this yarn, the colors ... looking at these pictures makes me happy. I love the color of my new duvet cover, the way the colors of the yarn coordinate with it, and I love the way this yarn feels in my hand as I crochet with it ... so soft! I have a scrap piece of SWS in my car, in the center console where it has sat for months since I was working on another project while in the car. I always pick it up and feel it, pet it, admire it ... I don't want to throw it away, even though it is only like 6 inches of extra yarn ... it is just so pretty and soft. And I love the way the crochet stitches look in this yarn ... I almost don't want to felt it, because the stitches are so pretty. I am totally a yarn dork. Does anyone else do weird things like this? Do you save extra bits of your favorite yarns, just because you want to admire it and you can't bear to part with it? No? Must just be me then.

Ok, so after looking at these pictures again and thinking about my yarn I don't feel so much like whining ... there is just something about working with fibers that is just so ... Zen. Peaceful. Quiet in a world full of chaos. Oh, man I am such a yarn dork.

The One With Random Ramblings

Some random thoughts today:

1. My Place of Employment (PoE) has a center atrium in our building. It has lots of potted plants and trees growing under a glass roof ... it really is beautiful. A lot of the offices have window looking out over it ... anyways, around Christmas time the gardeners put out lots of beautiful poinsettias in the planters. And now it is April, and we still have poinsettias. I am slightly annoyed by this. They are still blooming beautifully, but to me poinsettias are Christmas flowers. I want to move on to springy flowers.

2. I have actually been crocheting a lot in the last week, however I have no pictures to show for it. Every time I think to take pictures, I am driving, or working, or busy actually crocheting. I promise more pictures soon.

3. My dad called both me and T yesterday around noonish ... we were both working and neither of us answered the phone. T called him back like 10 minutes later, and my dad said that he had called because he couldn't find his wallet, and thought that maybe T had picked it up by accident when we were over the night before. T tells him that he was sure that he had only picked up his own wallet. My dad replies with "yes, you did ... I already found my wallet-- I had it the whole time" Apparently he had been looking for it all morning, and couldn't find it ... then when he called to check with us, he finally found it. T says, "so you pulled a Jessica! Ha ha ha ... "
They both laughed at my expense. But you all see? I get my ditziness from my father.

4. Spell check does not like the word ditziness.

5. I love to read, however I never have time for it ... and it puts me to sleep. But I really miss it ... so I decided that the solution to this problem is audiobooks. I downloaded my first audiobook (Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms) from iTunes and I am listening to it in the car during the commute ... it is really working out great for me ... I am getting that reading fix that I need ... and using that hated commute time for something productive! I really want to buy the actual book though, also. I want to go back and re-read some passages, see how some of the words look in print ... you just can't do that (at least not very easily) with an audiobook.

6. I have also recently discovered crochet/fiber podcasts. I listened to the one from Crochetville a while ago ... and then discovered several others listed in a thread at crochetville ... and from those I am discovering more ... I love to listen to them on my iPod at work, and while crocheting. It inspires me to crochet more, and (I'm hoping) actually finish stuff!

7. And last ... some pretty spring pictures that I took last weekend around my neighborhood ...

The One With Baby Hats

So, I finished up some super cute baby hats for the twins! They are so tiny, but I think they will fit ... those babies are just so little! And these two are on the big side compared to many of the other tiny little babies in the NICU! I think I want to start making more baby hats and blankets for the NICU ... they have a lot of cute handmade hats and blankets in there, and they really brighten up the atmosphere!

Anyways, these hats were made from (a slightly modified version of) this pattern. I found it on Crochet Pattern Central ... The yarns are Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Soft, and Bernat Softee Baby. I don't have the labels in front of me, so I can't remember the exact colors ...

They ended up being three different sizes (I am not so good at the whole gauge thing ... I don't try to match gauge unless I absolutely have to. I always just kind of eyeball it ... )

These were fun and fast and I can't wait to see them on their cute, tiny little heads!

The One with Crafting Updates!

Okay ... so the twin baby boys? The ones who were to receive the blankets I was (supposed to be) working furiously on? Um, Yeah. They were born this weekend. A month early, and a week before the baby shower. They kind of messed up my (unrealistic anyways) plans for completing their blankets this week. Instead of crocheting furiously, I was at the hospital visiting and oohing and aaahing and cuddling ...

They are in the NICU for a little while while they get a little bit bigger and are able to eat enough to gain weight without supplemental feeding tubes ... but really, they are doing just fine. A bit small, but perfectly healthy. And REALLY CUTE!! Mom and boys are doing just fine ... all are easily tired and mom is a little sore ... but they are bonding and healthy and did I mention CUTE?!

Sooo ... new plan. The big-sister blanket is almost finished. I will finish it this week, and give it to the new big sister at the baby shower this weekend. And also last night I crocheted two little TINY preemie baby hats ... when I get home tonight I will post pictures. I will probably drop those off at the hospital this week, but I think I will make a few more to give to new mom at the baby shower too. I do have (lots and lots of) store-bought gifts for the shower, but I want to put in something that is handmade also. And then ... the plan for the really cute baby blankets that I have all the stuff for? I am going to make them for Christmas presents for the boys. MUCH more realistic. I purposely planned these blankets to be pretty big. I made them the same size as a blanket that I received at MY baby shower, that my now four-year-old son is still using every day. The boys should be able to use these blankets well into their childhood, so receiving baby blankets 8 months after birth should be just fine. As soon as I make a little more progress on them, I will post pictures. I just LOVE how these blankets will turn out (I hope)!

As for other crafting that I have been working on ... I completed the little mini-scrapbook that I made for my sister, and it is waiting to get mailed off. I have been working on some ideas for mother's day ... scrapbooks with some of those black and white pictures that I have also been working on, where I color just one element in the picture. I am really excited about those. And I will also probably make some small little crochet items for mother's day also.

When I get home tonight I will post pictures of my progress on all of these!

The One Where I SHOULD Be Working on Two (2) Baby Boy Blankets . . .

My best friend is expecting twin baby boys in April. So you would think that I would be working on two super adorable little baby boy blankets that I have planned, wouldn't you? But oh no. I am instead working on this very girly blanket to give to their daughter as a sort of big-sister gift. Because that is how I roll. I never work on projects in the correct order. I keep telling myself I will be able to complete ALL THREE of these blankets in just a few weeks in time for the shower. And the reason I am posting the pictures of the big-sister blanket is, well ... that is the only one that I have made any significant progress on. The blankets that I chose to make for the boys are time consuming and complicated. (Because I only have a few weeks to make TWO (2) blankets, so why not try to make the most complicated and time consuming blankets that I can?!)

Anyways, this blanket is a very subtle ripple pattern, crocheted in Joann Sensations Rainbow Classic Yarn ... I think the color is "jewel". It is acrylic, which is usually not my favorite fiber, but for kids is is very washable and holds up to abuse. And this is a "brushed" acrylic so it is very soft.

I am trying to decide what to do as a border ... at first I was thinking of doing dark pink fun-fur yarn as a top and bottom border (their daughter is 2 1/2, but I want to make something that is big enough and sort of funky so that she will be able to enjoy it for years to come) but I decided that the fur yarn would not show off the ripple pattern. So ... a solid color all around? A solid color on just the top and bottom? Use the same color yarn (as the body) all the way around for a border that blends in? Anyone have any suggestions? I think I will buy some sample yarn and experiment maybe ...

So, this blanket works up pretty quickly, and travels in the car with me easily (which is the main reason why I have so much done on this blanket and so little done on the boys' blankets) so it should be done in a few days (other than figuring out the border). And then on to the boys' blankets, which are a whole other story ...