Inspired

I love crochet.  I love the things I can make with it, and the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a project.  Heck I love just messing with yarn and making nothing out of it, I just love having my hands busy.  I tried knitting before, and I would get some time invested and then I would drop a stitch and the gripe and moan trying to figure out a way to save the stitch.  With crochet its SO simple when you drop a stitch, you just loop it back in and do it again.  So I was extremely disappointed when I couldn't do the same with knitting.  So I threw down my nifty little knitting sticks and used the yarn I got from the knitting kit to crochet me a hat and headband and swore off knitting forever.  

 That being said recently I have been looking at knitting patterns on Ravelry, drolling over socks, scarves, and over fabric created by knitting.  Since I left my knitting sticks at the dorms I grabbed up some chopsticks and gave it a whirl.  I learned a few things from this venture,  one being  new cast on technique tons easier then the long tail cast on and secondly and probably most importantly Chopsticks don't make good knitting needles.   I did however enjoy myself so I went out and bought some more yarn, and a few knitting tools.  I am making some pretty good progress on the cowl I started yesterday.  It will be awhile before I finish it since I am not as fast as knitting as I am at crocheting.  So that is the downside but I really love the clicking of knitting needles.  Its pretty awesome, and the fabric that I am making with this yarn is so squishy and wonderful.  Which by the way I greatly recommend this yarn to anyone who loves black, blue, and purple.  It is Tweed Stripes by Lionbrand in the Caribbean color-way.  

Its also worth saying that I am truly knitting, because I am not purling or anything else.  I will eventually take the time to learn other stitchs but I figure it will be better to become competent in the knit stitch before I tackle another stitch.  

Happy New Years Eve everyone.  I hope that you finish 2010 with a blast and you start 2011 the same way.  

Health Fears

Tonight has seemed to be a night where I am constantly fearing about my health.  I have above average hearing but I have been hearing things like an odd pulsing noise, microphone feedback, and today I heard chimes.  The microphone feedback I have always heard but the pulsing and chimes are new.  This doesn't really bother me the because there are tons of things that can cause this, and it is completely possible that I can just hear different frequencies then what is normal or that I am losing some of my hearing.  However I found a lump under my chin and that has me worried.  I know that it could be numerous benign things the most likely thing being a fatty tumor since my granny has had them before.  However a part of me can't help fear that it won't be benign.  Its irrational I know, but my family does have a history of cancer, but really hardly a family today hasn't been touched in some way by it.  What has me the most riled up is there is a random red raised bump that just appeared out of nowhere on my stomach.  It kind of looks like a burn or something but it doesn't itch, and it doesn't burn.  But it just appeared there it that has me a little weired out.  Its probably nothing but I have never seen anything like it before.  Being that its late I can't just go and show my granny and expect an answer, like its a bug bite or something.    I don't like knowing what is going on and I want this bump just to disappear!  It freaks me out and makes me feel paranoid.

I guess I will stop being a hypochondriac and get some rest.  Hopefully I wont have dreams out bumps and bugs or something.

Designing a Hat

I am currently designing a Hat :).  I am pretty excited about it and I have already started several variations but I think I have it figured out now.  Hopefully I did my math right and the stitches will flow together, I am dreadfully bad at math.  I need to get started but I think I will rest a bit since I am not sure what yarn I am going to use.  I know it will need to be a finer yarn, like fingering, DK, or worsted, and I find of want to have fun with my left over super bulky yarn.

I posted up pictures of my recent big projects and updated the projects page to show some that I forget to add. Opps!  There was quite a few and there is still a few more but I have pictures of one but they are not here right now and the other is kind of an embarrassment as far as hats go, but its so comfy, so I probably won't frog it.

Wish me Luck! :D

Still a Child

In less then a month I will be turning twenty.  While some people might think that this isn't a very big year because you don't get any new rights, or benefits from it.  It is the year where nineteen because twenty and therefore ends the Teenage years.  I don't want to be twenty.  I don't want to be a grownup.  The reasons are very simple and almost embarrassing.  I am afraid, so very afraid of this age, and of growing up.  Because... I don't have my life put together or even really started.  I am in college but graduating scares me to death also, because then I will have to get a job, hopefully relating to my degree, or go on to graduate school.   I fear that after I graduate I will never have as much fun as I did in college, that all my friends will move away, and we will drift apart, unable to reconnect.

   I want to travel and I want to see the world but leaving my grandparents alone for a long time also scares me.  I have had nightmares about my papa dying, and the thought of it is enough to make me cry.   Plus part of me still believes in faeries, magic, in good always winning, and evil being vanquished.  I still want to believe that bad things don't happen to good people without just reasons, and fairness.  But I now better,  the truth is bad things do happen to good people for no other reason then just bad things happen, and life isn't fair.  I don't want to be jaded, I still want to believe in the magic in life, because it is magic, no matter if fairy magic exists or not.  I still want to be able to see the beauty in it,  that it seems that so many people just pass right by.  Maybe thats what I fear about becoming a grownup, all I know is that no matter if I am afraid of the coming birthday or not, it is coming this way.

 I am sure that it will bring its own magic, but I am still hesitant to give up this one.  Speaking of giving up,  I am not ready to give up this year.  It seemed to melt away way too quickly.  Its funny how when we are younger an hour seems like the longest time in the world, and a year is almost unfathomable.  Yet we we get older time seems to flit right past us.

This post turned out longer then I expected.  Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

I think I can... I think I can

That has been my mantra as I am crocheting this hat for my brother.  I am on the last row, doing a reverse single crochet and my yarn is looking a bit on the short side.  I already had to rip out this row SO CLOSE to the end because I just ran out.  I switched down to a G hook hoping it will give me a few stitches more so I can close the round.  As I was looking for my G hook I noticed something.  I have four H hooks.  Four of them, how this happened, I haven't the slightest clue because I bought a pack and I don't think there was any repeats.  They just materialized into my hook stash.  Twilight zone style,  I can see where I might have acquired one from my granny when she let me go through all that yarn in the shed, but still is it really necessary to have two of the same size hook on a craft that you can multi-task with one hook.  It isn't like knitting, I can see why people have more then one of a size there because you keep the work on the needle.  Or at least that is the way I understand it since I haven't been able to master the art of knitting yet.  Oh I have tried, but I have several things working against me. I will be knitting along pretty nicely and then I will drop a stitch and I have been unable to figure out how to pick up stitches, if there is a way.  Plus all the Newbie knitting patterns look so Newbish, I just can't really bring my self to spend all this time knitting something I could crochet fancier.  

I finally did my Christmas shopping, and I only have to go to Wal-mart to finish it off.  That should be a fun trip for tomorrow... NOT!  I got several gifts for my brother and one for my mom.  Now I just need to get one for my granny, and maybe one for my papa.  My papa has to be one of the hardest people to buy for, anything that he really wants he just goes and buys it.  Plus most of the things I can thing to give him it would be better for him to pick it out.  It also just doesn't seem right to buy him a Christmas present with the money he gave me for buying Christmas presents.  I don't want him to have to pay for his own present!  I have my granny's present already picked out.  I will get her a bath scruby brush with some nice smelling soaps and a certificate for a few bath washes, and rubs.  I think that will be a good gift and I hope that she likes it.  I think she will because I give a mean back massage.  

Christmas Projects

So I have a few Christmas crochet projects before Friday gets here.  Hopefully I can pull it off and the receivers will be thrilled with them.  I have already done one Christmas hat, and all I need to get is the button for it.  I will post pictures of it later, I am so happy with it and sort of wish I could keep it.  But it doesn't look nearly as amazing on me as the person it was intended for.  She has already tried it on because I was worried it wouldn't fit.   The one project I am nervous about is intended for my little brother.  He is at a difficult stage or at least difficult for me.  Its rather funny that although I have just come out of my teenage years I don't really know how to handle him.  But then again boys have always been difficult for me to get presents for, I just hope that the hat suits his style and looks manly enough.  I know its not going to be girly but its not turning out like I planed.  The yarn is making it look like a camouflage, and I don't know if he digs that or not.

Then I have a head band/cowl I need to design for my mom.  That shouldn't be to hard, (I hope).  I just hope everyone likes their gifts.  And I know its better to give then receive but I am looking forward to opening a few myself.  ; )

The winter solstice eclipse was pretty amazing.  So glad that I took the time to go outside and watch it.  Winter is here but spring isn't very far behind.  I love all seasons so I can't really pick a favorite.  I had an amazing night with my mom and we went and got coffee together.  I don't get to see her too often so its nice when we get to hangout.


Though its not quite time for new years resolutions.  I am going to bring it up anyways.  I want to be a better sister then I have been in the past.  My brother and I are not very close to one another.  A lot of that is my fault because when he wanted to hang out when he was younger I pushed him away because he was young and I was a teen having fun with my friends.   I guess I just want to be a cool older sister and make a good difference in his life, but I worry it might be to late for that.

Anyways I hope everyone has an amazing holiday, and gets all their crafting, and shopping done before the big day.

On Happiness

What is happiness?  Is there a formula about it; if you have a house, a car, a job, and family are you considered happy?  Or is it decided by an active social life or tons of money?  How about a beautiful face?  Are those celebrities you read about in the tabloids the happiest people in the world?  


I don't know the formula, and sometimes I wish I could find it.  And then there are times when I think I have had it all this time.  It always seems to come in simplest times. Such as curling up with a good book with my cat purring beside me, or having a conversation with a friend or family member.  

I think that maybe we have become so obsessed with "finding" happinesses that we let it slip through our fingers. Its the small moments that make happiness maybe because they can't be duplicated, forced or bought.  You can buy a cat and a dog but you can't buy their love and trust.  You can purchase a house but no amount of money can turn it into a home.

Cruel Designs

So I get a three day weekend for Labor Day and I end up with the Flu. I think I am over the worst part but I am still not amused by it. Part of me is thankful that it happened on the weekend but the other part of me is just whining. I am such a baby when I am sick, probably because I am hardly ever sick. So now I am feeling a little better but I don't dare go and hang out with anyone because I don't want to get them sick. I am just a hermit inside my room.

 On the Bright side this leaves me plenty of time to work on my scarf and my homework.  

Updating

I haven't been able to post anything in so long but at least I have a good excuse, (I have been keeping up with peoples blogs though :)) Just been busy and yet had nothing to really post about. My scarf is still in the works, I would post a picture but I can't seem to capture the purple in it at all and that is bugging me because the purple and the black go wonderfully together. Just got back from the honor's retreat, it was great and extremely tiring, but I got to meet a lot of the honor's freshmen and made a few friends so it was completely worth the little sleep I got.

At my college we have a sort of secret underground group, where we talk freely about certain topics like religion and politics. We are selective about who attends because as I am sure you know certain people can't talk about those topics without getting defensive or preachy.

Anyways we invited a few freshmen and went to the dock to talk and it was nice. But because of it we all stayed up way past bedtime, and though I am not sure what time we went back to the cabins, it had to be around 4:00 am or something and we had to wake up at 7:15, so needless to say we were sleepy sleepy sleepy. It was completely worth it though and I would do it again.

I am about to swing by my house to see if I can find a decent canvas to play on, and get some brushes to. Since I am taking an art class I was able to attend the Liquitex demonstration. So I scored a few freebies :D. I had already bought a mixing set, and then they gave me two mediums, One is a White Opaque Flakes texture gel, and the other is a Gloss Super Heavy Gel, plus I got the primary colors in Heavy Body Paint, so I am ready to try it out.

Here is a side note, in class the other day my logic professor made a reference to Doctor Who, it was pretty great.

Exhausting Hot day.

I am finally moved into my dorm and I went to bed extra early last night. Midnight is super early for me anyways. I woke up at 7:30 and got ready even before my alarm went off so I am super surprised about that. I was energetic and everything it was great. I should have ate something for then a pudding snack because by lunch I was starving off the charts and just lagging behind. But I ate a delicious lunch and then got my books and tracked down the person in charge of the retreat. I was afraid that I was going to bug him or something because I already email him, and the honor's director about going on the retreat but it seemed I wasn't getting a response. So I found him and asked him about it and he said I was in. Which is great because the honor's retreat is awesome. I went last year as a freshman and it is pretty much what made us such a tight knit class. I want to make sure that this year's Honor's freshman have a blast too.

I love my room and it is just great to be able to wake up get dressed and then get back in bed to do some early morning crocheting. I am still working on my shawl but it is a slow process. Books was way to expensive 300 dollars is just to much to pay for only 3 classes. I still need to get my 2-d design books.

I also love that labs don't start until next week so tomorrow I can sleep until noon. Hopefully I wont but it is nice to have that option open.

"Woot!" I just love college.

YAAAAAAARN!

Finally my yarn arrived in the mail. It isn't as soft as I dreamed it would be but I might have set my standards to unattainable. Since I was expecting a soft dreamy cloud like texture lol. It is fairly soft and it does feel warm, probably since it was out in the hot mail box but what ever. It also has a really nice sheen in the yarn. It actually sort of reminds me of lion brand yarn, because I have a grey yarn from there that has a really pretty shine in it. I just hope that it will be enough yarn because the four skeins look tiny but I followed the instructions and I have the required yards and grams. So maybe it will work?

I wish yarn would roll itself into a ball because its a very time consuming task. I hate starting yarn balls. My hands slip and slide around and it take forever to get it to a decent size so I can actually get a good hold on it.



I was in a drawing mood last night so I fiddled around on MS Paint a little. This was the result. I added the background on photoshop from some pictures that I took awhile ago.

I am pleased on how it turned out. I probably could have messed with it longer and got it looking smoother but I think it would have detracted from it.


(A little bit about my previous post. Autumnleaves I completely agree with you on all your points. There are girls like that and in my senior year I knew tons of girls that flirted and teased just about everyone. There were also a few girls with crushes on teachers and it is my understanding that was the case here.

When I first found out about the situation I thought that he might have told the girl that there couldn't be anything and she got mad and made an accusation. However I don't think that was the case since he has confessed of his actions. Though I do not know the full details of what occurred between them. Innocent until proven guilty is a mind frame difficult to hold when the person has admitted some wrong doing.)

Getting Serious (Rant)

(I wrote this a few days ago after checking up on a case in my town that has been developing over lewd behavior between a teacher and a student, but couldn't decide if I wanted to post it or not. Finally I decided to go ahead and post it because I felt it should be posted. Why? I don't really know but feel free to skip this post if you want to, it makes for a serious read and doesn't contain any pleasant reading material.)





It is amazing how many people swarm out of the wood work when something bad happens. At the high school where I graduated from a teacher is convicted of lewd conduct with a student, and now there are swarms of people telling how they always thought he was a good for nothing, and how my school is a terrible school. Shut the freak up, if you had known before hand, why didn't you voice concerns? Thats right because you had no clue, just like everyone else.

And my school isn't a crappy school, we are a small school, we have a small budget, and no school is perfect. Plus I have always found that schools are what you make them. Sure there are extraneous circumstances but if you think your school is a terrible place, AND SO BORING. Change it. Don't just whine about it.
And don't attack his family. They didn't make him do what he did, and you can be sure that they are shocked and hurt.

This whole story makes me just sick. I thought I knew him. He was my class sponser and I hung out with him at Six Flags. I was in his leadership class, and he helped give us the best homecoming dance ever. He got me to be more active in my school, and my community. I thought he was an awesome guy. I respected and trusted him. I guess that is why I feel sick and betrayed. I feel like I am being over dramatic or something about it, because he didn't do anything bad to me. But I feel like he stole something from me. My faith that good people are really what they seem, and not just trying to get close to children or something.

That faith probably should already have been gone, but it was my school. It was never supposed to happen there. Bad things like this happen to other places. We were only supposed to worry about getting sucked up in a tornado and pathetic school fights.

And another thing that makes me mad is that he did have some good ideas. We had a poverty awareness where we raised can foods and slept in boxes at the school. It was a wonderful event and I would like to think that it helped people but now it is marred because his name is associated with it. He could have done a lot of good in this world but he had to go and ruin it with a stupid, stupid, disgusting decision.

Yawn!

I was nice and shared my bed with Serenity last night, she slept just fine until around 6 o clock then she had to go outside and use the restroom. That is the one thing I don't like about sharing my bed with any of our pets is they have to use the restroom around 6. For such a big dog she shared the bed pretty good and a lot better then my cat Rintie. In Rintie's eyes the only place to sleep is right on top of me usually on my arm, neck or face. I love cuddling up with her but I don't like actually going to sleep just because I don't want her laying on me.

I woke up early then I have been to go and get ready for the up coming semester. All in All I had a pretty successful day. I got a new ID, decal, and got an application for student employment. I also went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning and got my car washed. My car is now clean and happy (which is sadly pretty rare) My teeth are smooth but my gums are sort of sore from the flossing. I have never been fond of dentists. I don't like the smells, or the grit from the tooth paste they use. I am afraid of drills and giant needles. The only thing I do like is laughing gas, but getting that also involves drills so it is not worth it.

Before I washed my car I decided to swing by a convenience store and pick up something to drink, so I could drink it while I was going through the wash. So I get out of the car and since I am just running into the store for a second I decide I don't need to bring my keys. This would be fine but I guess I am a habitual car locker and I locked my car, through down my keys and shut the door. Only to realize what I had done when I got back to it and it was locked. Luckily for me my papa is a good sport and he went into town to unlock it for me with very few jokes on my behalf.

My yarn still hasn't been shipped and I am getting restless. I really don't have anything to crochet until it comes in, though I guess I could start on another hat with my bamboospun yarn. I really don't want to make anything with my acrylic yarn because since I have worked with cotton and bamboo I don't like the feel and looks of it. I am so excited for my new yarn to come in because it will be the first time I have worked with wool and it is Merino which I hear is so soft and warm.

I got a notification about the Phat Fiber boxes date and I am debating on trying to buying one. I like surprises and it could be interesting but it is just samples and I could buy other yarn with the money. So I don't really know if I will or not. Decisions decisions. Maybe I will just get lucky and win one. Yeah right but a girl can dream. Speaking of dreams I actually had a dream about yarn and fiber! That is probably a sign of clinical obsession. Aren't I in trouble. :D

Sorry about the terrible long blog of rambling. I am a pretty good writer just not when it comes to blogs. Though I think at the very least I am doing a pretty good job of keeping things updated. I have started blogs before only to make a post or two and then forget about them. I just wish Blogger had a notification system set up about recieved comments. If they do then I haven't found it yet.

New Yarn is In the Mail

Those two colors are on their way to my house and going to be worked in to a beautiful scarf/wrap that can be found Here! It is adorable and I am so excited to start on it.

The yarn is a sock weight that only cost $4.29 dollars and is 50 grams/ 218 yards which is a lot more then what I was finding for the price so I am pretty happy about it. It has pretty good reviews and the only problem listed was splitting but I think I can work past that. Valley Yarns Huntington is the brand name and I found it on Yarn.com.

I finished my Papa's Riding Hat. I am going to make me one too because I really liked the way it fit while I was making it for him. I used a new stitch that my friend Livie showed me. It is called the Reverse Stitch and I was a little leery of it at first but it was pretty easy and made a wonderful finishing look.

Milestone

I have finally accomplished a skill that I always envied. Being able to crochet with out looking. This isn't saying that I work fast. I am considerably slower but its a start. I think its amazing how the fingers can memorize a motion, and do it with very little thought. Ah the wonders of the human body.

Papa's Riding hat is working up wonderfully. Which is surprising because I am fairly sure that I goofed a lot on the original pattern. I like it so much I think i will make me one. :D I am at the trial and error part because I am trying to make ear flaps for him. But I think I am just turning it into a helmet looking thing. If it ends up looking funny I will just have to frog part of it and try a different approach.

I can't sew

The stitching that I used to hem my bag and make a pocket for the string fell out so I just wove it in. I don't know if it is just my sewing skills or if the needle was wrong, but oh well the new way works.

I finally frogged that pitiful scarf into a jumbo two-skein yarn ball and I am working on my papa's hat. I am using this really soft bamboo spun yarn, I just hope that it is warm too. I am working a pattern from memory because I can't find where it is wrote down, so I hope it turns out okay.

Family reunion was today. I had a lot of fun at it like always. My brother and me teamed up against My mom and her brother. (Well he is actually her cousin but they grew up together so its like they are siblings. Either way he is my uncle. lol) Anyways we kicked their booties, it was great. I managed to get myself an ace in the hole twice and when out twice. Thanks you Uncle Homer for teaching me how to count those bones. I stayed up late like normal last night but I woke up early which is way out of the ordinary. Maybe I can get my sleeping schedule fixed tonight, because I am SLEEPY!

Next saturday is move in day at the college so I will be back in to the halls. So excited, this year is going to rock!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day, and I think I will be going to be soon.

Pictures of Tisket Tasket Bag

Electricity has stopped acting up at least for now. So I can post pictures! They are not very good pictures, it looks a lot better then it does in these photos. The flash did something weird with it.

Bag laid out long ways with handle as a shoulder bag.




This shows the button I attached on the bottom so it could also function as a backpack.



And here it is being held up as a backpack.


Winter and Spring are probably my favorite seasons. But really I love them all, I just don't like the heat of the summer, but I love swimming. Its getting so hot here that swimming isn't very fun either because the water is hot. Gross.

I am thinking about trying to write out the pattern for the bag. Just to see if I can remember it.

Finished for real

I finished my bag and I am SO proud of it. It works as an over the shoulder type of bag, or if you don't want that it can be a cute drawstring backpack. The pictures don't really capture it well, but I could just be biased. ;)

I gave up on the thistle fiber, it was brittle and just difficult to work with. However my papa said that he would buy me some fiber but I think I will wait on that. I don't know how much college is going to cost this semester.

I have a lot of projects I need to work on, just which one to do first. The funny thing is most of them are hats. I love making hats though, they quick, cute and useful. I will probably work on my papa's hat first. It will be the quickest and I don't need to go and get more yarn for it. Plus fall is just around the corner and I want him to have a warm hat. I might take apart the scarf I made for the yarn for it. The scarf was a waste of good yarn. Bamboo spun fiber, it was surprisingly soft. Or at least to this newbie, I think it will make a very nice hat.

Something is seriously wrong with our electricity and it keeps on cutting on and off.

So i can't post up pictures right now.

I will do that tomorrow if the problem is fixed.

Finished... Sorta

So I basically have the bag finish. It at least funtions as a drawstring bag. But I want to add a handle on it, but I think I will put that off for now. I am getting aggravated at it and my brain hurts from trying to figure out how to sew in the drawstring.

I have really realized just how difficult designing items for crochet and knitting is, and this bag was simple, I can't imagine more difficult projects.

But at least I got a nifty little project bag. That is what I am planning on using it for though I might use it for other stuff too.

And here it is my not completly finished but at least funitional bag. I call it "Tisket Tasket Bag"






You can even wear it as a Hat! (though I wouldn't recommend it.)

So Close

Well my once hat turned bag is almost done. I am so excited; I love how the colors are turning out. I got to use all of my favorite stitches (which are the double crochet and the front post crochet if you are wondering) and I sort of learned a new one. I wanted horizontal ribbing but didn't want to go get my book. So I just did what I thought would work and it turned out good. (at least in my opinion).

One of my favorite things about crocheting, or well any craft really is watching a project come to life. At first you just have this ball of yarn and a general plan of what you want it to be, but as you work with it, it changes. This bag was first going to be a hat, but as I was crocheting it just sort of told me it wanted to be a bag. Now I am not saying that I speak with yarn or anything of the sort. I may be taking a leap here but I think most people who paint, draw, write, knit, crochet ect.., know what I am talking about. You will sit down to do something and then all of a sudden by some whim that you can't explain, it turns into something else.

Anyways Picture Time!

This photo show the general shape and relief stitches better. Though the colors are sort of wonky.



And this one shows the colors almost perfectly.


Hopefully I will get finished pictures up soon. And hopefully I can finish this with the yarn I have so I wont have to scour the town for another ball of the yarn.

Busy Busy Bee

So I finally got all my classes done for my summer courses. Hopefully I pull out with a good grade, I am not worried in one, but the other I am a little iffy on.

My friend Oliva came over and I got to bleach and die her hair a pretty color. It is sort of strange but I love dying hair. To me it is sort of like painting, and there is always a surprise at the end of exactly how it is going to turn out. It is great.

and Because I am still angry with my purple hat for not turning out right the first time around I started on an improvise project. First, it was going to be a neat little Lacey hat, but it was starting to look like a Kofi, which just isnt really my taste. So now it is going to be a bag and I am happy with how it is shapping up. Especially since I had no pattern what so ever. I think I might do some lining that way I can put smaller items in it. But who knows? I also finally made a yarn ball out of the hand dyed yarn I bought, I love the colors but hand dyed yarn is so hard to actually work with in those little twists.

This week is going to be fun. I have an uncle from Louisiana coming up, and he is going to camp at the lake, and the family reunion comes up this weekend so there is probably going to be a lot of hugs, good food, and domino playing. This uncle is who taught me how to play dominoes and he is always a blast to play with.

Lurker

So I was lying in bed, on the computer and I hear some rustling in my room. Since my cat was in the room I just figured it was her snooping around. I move my feet and lay them on top of her, wait its not her so what is it. I move my computer screen looking around for the noise, thinking that it would be a mouse or something. Heck no it is a BIG AS GODZILLA FREAKING SPIDER!!!! So I picked up my green tea bottle and hit and and it RAN AWAY. I had to carefully search for it to crush it again...

So I am throughly creeped out, and I am so cleaning this room up, if I can even get up the courage to touch anything in it ever again. I feel like there are spiders crawling on me, it is seriously freaking me out... :(

I really really don't like spiders, if you can't tell.

Thistle Yarn

I have yet to buy any fiber, because I am broke and waiting for money to come in, but we have a lot of these thistle plants that are dried out and have this cotton like seeds. So I had the smart idea to try to spin it. I went out and collected some of the fiber but haven't really tried to spin it yet. I can't figure out how to clean it there are a lot of little seeds, and other things. :\ didn't really think that far.

CD Drop Spindle and First attempt at spinning

I have been researching spinning for a few days, and I finally couldn't stand it any long and made a drop spindle out of a chop stick, silly putty and a small cd. (It is a very crappy spindle and I can't wait to replace it with something better.) Anyway I found an old string of yarn and took it apart and then spun it.



Here is my yarn. I think I can call it yarn though it is a pretty big stretch. It may be terrible but I am still proud of it.




Here is a sad sad picture of my sad little spindle. I can't find the rubber band that I used in place of a hook...




Even though my spindle was terrible I still enjoyed it. So I think I will invest in a good one, and some actual roving. I know I should spend more time on crocheting... but it all ties together right?

Yarn Gnomes

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Yes, Yarn Gnomes. What are they you ask? They are the sneaky little devils that crawl up in a skein of yarn and tangle the yarn so I can't crochet. I am enough of a procrastinator I don't need help. I am a pretty good knot undoer but sometimes the only thing you can do is salvage it, which is what I had to do. Luckily it didn't have to cut off a lot, though I am still bummed about the waste of yarn.

On another note, I found my camera charger and my camera is working again. So I can post a B-E-A-utiful picture of my newest hat. I got the pattern from SimpleBeans

and here are the photos

First Post and All that Jazz

So while looking for patterns and advice I noticed I was stumbling upon a lot of crochet/knitting blogs. So I decided to make one to track my projects and hopefully keep me from being sidetracked. I am pretty excited about this blog, and I hope that I can help beginners really get hooked on their needlework.