Friday, September 13, 2013

FO Friday

I have two things to show you today.  I forgot to get pictures of my Happy Street, but tonight I went to dinner with Dave, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law.  When we were leaving the restaurant and walking to the ice cream place next door it was really chilly.  I stopped in my car to grab Happy Street and my sister says, "You have another one of those?"  I told her no, but she could use it because she had short sleeves and I had long, but she's also pregnant.

She wraps it around her then looks down and asks, "Did you make this?  This is nice."



That is the last I saw of my Happy Street.  My sister borrowed my mom's Burberry purse years ago and my mom hasn't gotten it back.  It's a running joke.

I also finished a baby girl sweater last Friday for a friend.  I loved working with pink and lace for a change!



Pattern:  Lilianna
Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Needle:  US 5 - 3.75mm

I've linked up with Tami's Amis.

Have a good weekend!

Sam :-)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

WIP Wednesday!

Woohoo!  I remembered to do a WIP Wednesday!  I only have two projects that I'm working on right now.  Both projects are ones that I've pulled out from being snoozed.

First up is my Mini Granny Square Scarf.  I got the inspiration two years ago from http://cocorosetextiles.blogspot.com/.  Here scarf is shown in here post here.

My colors have changed slightly, but here's where I am:



Its nice to have a project that is very portable.

The next project I have been working on is my Dad's blanket.  Hear that Dad?!  I worked on it!  You still won't get it though for another couple of years.  You're just too tall!



My gauge has changed as I have been working on this.  It should block out fine though.

I've linked up with Tami's Amis!

I'll try to show you my finished items on Friday.

Sam <3

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Owen's Room

I feel like I'm constantly go go go, when I'm really not.  Dave and I have been getting a lot done around the house.  We finally got a bed in the spare bedroom.  As soon as we pick the comforter up from being laundered, I'll take pictures.  I got my craft room organized with cute colorful dorm storage solutions.  The perfect option for my current budget.  I'll also get some pictures of that soon.  Dave's family is coming for another visit in a couple of weeks.  This is the first time that they will visit when we have the house.  I'm so excited for them to have their own rooms.

My sister posted some pictures of the baby's room all finished. 






What is that peaking out in the above picture?  It's the blanket I made!  It matches perfectly!



My sister, Missy, has utilized all the space she has in the small room.  Everything is organized in baskets and everything has its place.

In other news, I made another baby item, but this one is for a friend.  She just had a little girl a few days ago and I finally got to make a baby item that's PINK.  I'll show you the cute sweater on Friday (if I remember haha..).  I've also finished my Happy Street, but I need to take pictures of it.

I'll post tomorrow with what I am currently working on!

Sam :-)

Friday, August 16, 2013

FO Friday! Owen's Little Square Baby Blanket!

I know I was supposed to show you this blanket last week, but I forgot.  Simple as that.  At least now though you can see a few pictures of my sister opening it up at her shower, right?

Well let's just get right to it!  I managed to finish this blanket in about 1 month!  I worked on it nonstop!

So here it is!


I love how it turned out! 


I added some navy in the border and finished it off with the light blue.



Here are the details in case you want them:

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in colors 505 Yellow, 071 Pool (the light blue), 018 Citrus (light green), 047 Bright Green, 068 Peach, 008 Navy, 023 Sienna, 005 Cream, and 048 Brown.
Hook:  US G 4mm
Size: 28"x33"
Pattern:  I made up the pattern for the squares.  It is pretty basic.  This is what I did:

Ch 4 join with a sl st 
chain 3, 3 dc into center 
ch 2 4 dc into center 
ch 2 4 dc into center 
ch 2 4 dc into center 
ch 2 join with sl st in top of ch3
ch3 dc into next 3 st, dc into ch 2 space 
ch 2, dc into same ch 2 space 
dc across the 4 st 
dc into ch 2 space 
ch 2, dc into same ch 2 space 
dc across the 4 st 
dc into ch 2 space 
ch 2, dc into same ch 2 space 
dc across the 4 st 
dc into ch 2 space 
ch 2, dc into same ch 2 space 
join with a sl st into top of ch 3
I joined the squares together using the method from this pattern 124-1 Crochet blanket in ”Delight” and ”Fabel” and I also used most of the border from that pattern. Instead of using those shells, I did reverse sc.
I didn't take very many pictures at the shower, but my cousin got a couple of my sister opening my blankets.




Overall they were a huge hit!

Hopefully I have my Happy Street finished soon!

I've linked up with Tami's Amis.

And I'll end with a picture of my puppies stealing my pillow.



Sam :-)

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Crazy Hectic Week

I know all of you out there must have been dying to see Owen's Little Square blanket all finished.  I finished it on July 28th.  So the next FO Friday would have been August 2nd.  Well, a lot happened around August second.  I'm going to make you wait until Friday to see the finished blanket. 

Two weeks ago Dave and I decided to spend our bonus money from work on bikes.  We thought it would be fun exercise.  Trek was having a huge sale and we found a bike that we both liked.  The only problem was that they were out of the grey color, so Dave and I would have to get the exact same bike in the exact same color, awesome blue by the way.  Dave wasn't too happy about that.  He test road practically every other bike in our price range and kept coming back to it.  He finally resigned himself to it.  We didn't pick the bikes up until Wednesday because it took us a while to get a hitch put on our vehicle.

Then I decided that I needed a basket to carry Toby.  Most of the time we would want to bike ride it would be nice to take the pup with us.  Dave said the basket had to go on my bike because it was definitely not going on his.  I don't have a picture of Toby in it yet, but I promise you he likes it.



Then on Thursday, I saw this add on


It was for this little dog they had named Roger. 


This little man was only 10 weeks old and had found himself without a forever home.  He came into the rescue covered in pee and poop and all sorts of stuff.

So this is how the conversation went with Dave on Thursday through email.

Me:  Look at Roger
Dave:  Cute!  Kinda looks like Toby.
Me:  Did you read his story?
Dave:  So sad.  :-( Do you want to get him?
Me:  You'd have to get a basket for your bike!! ;-)
Dave:  Oh no....maybe I could do the wagon.
Me:  Having the basket on the rear of the bike doesn't look too bad.  See?

Not my dog, just a picture of how the pet basket looks over the rear wheel
Dave:  That's not terrible.
Me:  Wait, did you just agree to get a second dog and a bike basket?
Dave:  Yeah, let's get him.  He needs a forever home and Toby needs a brother.
Me:  Squee!!!!!!!

On Thursday I put in an application for Roger.  On Friday (I had taken the day off work, and Dave is always off, he works Sunday - Thursday), I was taking Toby for his annual vet visit for booster shots.  While we were in the waiting room I got an email saying that my application had been approved and when could I pick him up.  I immidiately went up to the front desk and asked to make an appointment for my soon to be puppy.  The receptionist laughed and said, "Oh that was about you!!  They just called here."  The rescue had apparently called the Vet to check that I take Toby there regularly while I was sitting in the waiting room.

Dave and I were both shocked that we were approved so fast.  I was so excited that I went shopping at the pet store to get the new pup a collar, harness, crate, etc.

When I got to the house where the puppy was being fostered, I was shocked at how little he was!  I completely forgot that Toby was about 16/17 weeks old when we got him and about 7 or 8lbs.  This little guy is only 10 weeks old and under 4lbs.  He makes Toby's 13lbs look huge.

Now I love people names for dogs.  I grew up with Max, Eddie, and Georgie, and I have Toby now, but we really didn't like Roger.  We needed to choose a name that day because of his appointment at the vet the next day.  Finally we decided on Jimmy.

So everyone, meet Jimmy:


So far they are getting along and adjusting well.



Another good dog in the car who just curls up and goes to sleep.  Toby needs a haircut, so maybe Jimmy will get his first haircut in the next week or so.  The hair on Jimmy's one side is stained because of how he came into the rescue, so a good haircut should help him too.

Unfortunately, Dave started to feel sick Sunday night.  We went to the ER and we told them that Dave was fairly certain it was a kidney stone, as he's had them twice before.  We were there all night before they believed us.  He was admitted and needed to have surgery to remove it.  Since I was at the hospital yesterday and exhausted from no sleep, my parents volunteered to take the pups for the night.  This is the picture I got last night:



Apparently playing with my parents' neighbor's dog Tootsie got them both super tired.  I'm going to pick them both up today after work.  Dave is doing well and should be recovered in a couple of days.

This means that there will be even more cute puppy pictures on my blog.  I hope you can handle it!

Sam :-)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

WIP Wednesday

Lately I've been really gung-ho with getting Owen's Little Square Blanket finished (I had to look up how to spell gung-ho and I learned a bit of history, wikipedia page here).

I am almost finished with it!  I ran out of yarn on the border.  So I'm going to have to wait until I can get to the yarn store on Saturday.  The shower isn't until August 11th, so I'll be done in plenty of time.  Here's a sneek peek:


I still have a whole bunch of ends to weave in!  Thankfully they are just from the seams and border.  Otherwise those ends would be over 300!

Since I have to wait for the yarn I started a baby bib.  You can't see the pattern yet, but here it is so far:



I also managed to get an updated picture of Dave's socks this morning.  I haven't worked on them in a while, but the picture I showed last week was way out of date.



Anyone recognize the bag that my sock project is in?  It's my Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock box bag from Jessalu.

I love The Big Bang Theory and this bag is so cute.




It even has scientific fabric on the inside!


I really want another JessaLu box bag, but I can't decide!

I've linked up with Tami's Amis for WIP Wednesday!

Sam :-)

Monday, July 22, 2013

FO Friday - Color Affection, Linen Stitch, & Baby Items

I had this written on Wednesday!!!  I forgot to post it because I took Friday off from work and I didn't touch the computer!  So here it is, better late than never!

I finished quite a bit during my accidental hiatus from blogging.  I showed you a while back that I purchased yarn for a color affection.


I love these colors.  They are Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce in colors Grape Juice Purple, Bright Green, and Peacock Blue.

This shawl grew faster than I thought.  This was my first shawl. 





My finished pictures were taken with my phone while Dave was in the hospital, so they aren't very good.  I haven't gotten around to taking better pictures.  The picture directly above, where I'm working on the border, shows the colors the best.





I did a nice wide border, just what I wanted to do.  I really think it shows off the blue perfectly!  I love the colors, I really think they work perfectly together.

Once I finished my color affection, I was in the mood to finish more!  So I picked up my Linen Stitch Scarf (seen here and here), which I hadn't worked on in FOREVER.  I plowed through and finished it!




Can you believe that this scarf came from this yarn?


My finished pictures weren't in the best light, so you can't see the subtle pinks and the bright blue as much as you can in real life.  The yarn used was Artyarns Ultramerino in color 195 (Red-Purple) and Claudia Hand Painted Yarn Fingering in colors John B. (Pink-Brown) and Hawaii (Blue-Green-White).

After I finished my Linen Stitch Scarf, I started working on two baby bibs.  These bibs actually were not for my sister.  They were for a soccer teammate who was having twins (she just had them a couple of days ago).



I like the monkey one better because it has a neater cast on edge.  It uses short rows to create the curve, while the ducky one uses a method where you keep casting on more stitches.  I couldn't stop it from looking loose.  I think I'll end up making more of these for my sister.

As soon as I found out my sister was having a boy, I cast on a little blue sweater.


I loved working on it!  It went by so quick!



I made the newborn size because I was worried I'd run out of yarn (I didn't).  My mom and my sister were worried that it was too small.  So I did the only logical thing, I put it on my 13lb dog.


It fit Toby with plenty of ease and my mom and sister got a kick out of it!

The pattern was Thom with a "TH" and the yarn was Knit Picks Swish Worsted.  I used 1.55 skeins. 

With the left over yarn I made a newborn hat:



Again my mom and sister think it is going to be too small, but we'll just have to wait and see!

After I completed the sweater, but before I started Owen's Little Square Blanket I finished a knit blanket for Owen.  He's going to be so spoiled.  I started this blanket when I found out my sister was pregnant.  I did it in Navy yarn I had on hand, thinking that it is a neutral essentially and could be for a boy or girl.



I haven't blocked it yet.  The second picture shows the color of the yarn better.  The pattern is Pine Forest Baby Blanket and I used Berroco Vintage in color 5188.  This yarn is very soft and squishy and it is great that it is machine washable!!

So those are all of the items that I have finished since about March.  I've linked up with Tami's Amis.

Sam :-)