buttons, the CAL, and more

I haven’t been working on any projects this week other than tidying up the apartment.  It’s gotten SO BAD — I’d be embarrassed to have people over.  With tidying comes yarn organizing, too, of course.

This new bin is full of projects to give away.  It’s full but can be squished down to add more.  Now that these items are in this bin and not in my yarn drawers, I have room in the drawers for the yarn that’s been in bags on the floor.  Now I just need a place for this bin…

I was thinking today that perhaps some of you read new blog posts on your phones instead of a computer, and therefore wouldn’t be able to see my widget bar to the right.  To show those who haven’t seen and to explain more to those who have, there are some new buttons up (click them or the ones below to be taken to their respective sites):

  I’ve made a facebook page specifically for “not your average crochet.”  Originally this button was linked to my personal page but a page just for the blog is now up.  It would be a good place for feedback for those who aren’t WordPress bloggers (I believe commenting on WordPress posts when you don’t have an account can get irksome), and I would love for you to “like” the page!  It should also notify you of new blog posts if you don’t check here very often.  There’s a phone facebook app, as I’m sure you know.

  This Pinterest button will take you to my personal Pinterest profile (alliteration is fun).  From there you can follow all of my boards or you can go to the knitting, crocheting, or craft boards and follow them individually.  There is also a phone app for Pinterest, if you didn’t know.

  The ravelry button will take you to my personal ravelry profile, not the group for “not your average crochet.”  You can get to the group from my profile by clicking on the group icon of a bunch of crochet hooks.  Please feel free to join!  Ravelry doesn’t have a phone app, and from what I gather they’re not planning on making one, which makes me sad.  There are some ravelry-related apps (like a camera app that will post straight to ravelry), but most of them cost money.

  This button may not be recognizable — it’s for a site called goodreads (nope, it’s not a google icon).  Goodreads is a site where you can make collections of the books you own, the books you’ve read, the books you want to read, and the books you’re currently reading.  You can write reviews for the books you’ve read, and you can connect with your friends to see what they’re reading or what books they’ve reviewed.  Goodreads will also recommend books to you based on the books you’ve rated highly, which is really neat.  This button will take you to my little profile page so you can follow me if you like.  There is also a goodreads phone app.  Oh and if you follow me, let me know in some other way so that if I don’t recognize your goodreads name/picture I can still know it’s you and follow you back!

  This will take you to my Instagram profile.  I don’t think you can follow me from there — you may have to be in the phone app to do that — but you can see my pictures and get my username if you’re interested in following me.  I don’t just post craft pictures, though (although there are plenty of those), so be prepared to see some yummy food, some neat places, and some other stuff I love!

  This is the icon for bloglovin’ that I mentioned the other day.  To recap, you can use it to follow all of the blogs you like on ANY platform, not just WordPress or just Blogger or whatever.  It’s nice to have one feed for all the blogs I follow because it saves time and is just easier.  The button here will take you to the “follow not your average crochet” page.  There is also a phone app for bloglovin’ but as I mentioned before it has had some problems.  Actually, since I said that last, it’s worked just fine… maybe it was just me.

Hopefully the explanations helped!  Also, if you can’t see my widget bar because you’re using your phone, there’s a new CAL button up that takes up a little less space:

It will take you to the CAL category page, where you can view all posts about the CAL.  Feel free to use it on your own blog to let everyone know what you’ll be up to shortly!

Shortly is right.  As you might also not be able to see if you’re using your phone, the countdown widget says we have 17 days to go until we start the CAL!  I hope you’ve ordered any yarn that needs to be shipped to you by now, just to make sure you get it in time!  This is very exciting, and I’m 95% sure I’ll be making a throw sized blanket.  This way I’ll actually have a blanket for my couch that isn’t super-huge, and I’ll have extra yarn for any other projects I might want to make later.  If you’re planning on making a bigger blanket, never fear — we’ll still only be going a small number of rows per week.

That’s a good question to ask you all, actually.  How many rows would you like to do per week?  It’ll obviously have to be more than 1 if we want to finish any time this year, but I hesitate to go over 6 since I know some of you will be making bigger blankets and that will take more time.  6 would mean you could just work 1 row a day and have 1 day off each week, if that makes it easier.  What do you think would be a good number?  I’ll try to average your responses so that everybody is at least comfortable.

There are more topics to write about but this post is long enough, so they’ll have to wait.  Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you check out some of those button links!  And don’t forget to let me know how many rows you want to do per week!

 

a new app and some projects

the app

For those knitters with iPhones (and maybe other smartphones too), there is an app that takes your specific measurements, yarn, preferred design elements, and gauge and comes up with a customized raglan sweater pattern.  Here are some screenshots from my phone:

Pretty neat, huh?  It’s a lot of information to put in, sure, but I bet it would be worth it for a perfect fitting sweater!  The app, “Raglanify,” is $0.99 in the app store, which is great for what it does, I think.

the new project

After thinking about my last post, wondering whether or not to attempt the Wonder Woman sweater (which I would alter), I decided against it.  Can’t afford the yarn right now in anything but acrylic (and I don’t want an acrylic sweater), and our CAL is coming up so I’ll be plenty busy without a sweater!  However, I do happen to have some rather patriotic themed yarn in my stash:

Man, it’s hard to get good  coloring in my pictures lately!  I swear that’s navy in the back, and a true red as well.  This is Berroco Vintage, a worsted wool blend that has been gracing my stash for years.  THIS is what I’d make a sweater with, but that would be expensive.  Anyway, instead of a sweater, I’m going to use this yarn to make a few hats with the space invaders pattern by Arne & Carlos that I also mentioned in my last post.  Wish me luck — they’re for some boys with large heads (literally) and since my head is small, the size will be a guesstimate.

the finished project

And speaking of Arne & Carlos, I made the first Christmas ball in the book:

*sigh*  It’s a real red, not magenta.  Cute though, right?  I plan on going through the whole book, making almost all of them (some are a little weird, like the outhouse one, but I’ll definitely be making the pig one, hehe).  These will be Christmas presents and I can’t wait to give them away!  I’m thinking of getting some cigar boxes and wrapping them in pretty contact paper, then putting 4 (maybe 6) ornaments inside.  The ornaments are a bit large, though, so I might have to think of another solution… I can’t remember exactly how large cigar boxes are.  Anyway, the ball is a bit lumpy, and I’m not sure why.  I tried to leave plenty of give in the stranding on the back to keep it from puckering, so it’s probably uneven stuffing.  Next time I’ll try smaller bits of stuffing instead of using a few big pieces.  That should help, right?

other stuff…

On another topic, I’m going to Pineville/Charlotte tomorrow to apply for jobs at a couple of malls.  I’m getting no bites for counseling positions, and I’m still refusing to apply to anything that involves doing intensive in-home work (that’s where you go to a kid’s house by yourself and try to counsel them there with their family and pets and TVs and bugs and nasty smells all around you the whole time).  Doesn’t sound fun or safe or very effective.  Tomorrow I’ll be certain to hit up Aerie, Barnes & Noble, and Sephora, amongst other stores, and maybe even a few at the fancy-pants mall where all the rich people shop.  Hmmm…  If I apply at the frozen yogurt place do you think I’ll get free yummies?  Hehe.

I’ve started reading “A Game of Thrones” again.  Last time I only got a few chapters in and all the characters got so confusing that I put down the book in frustration.  After marathoning the whole 2 1/2 seasons of the TV show in 4 days, I understand and am going back to read the book.  It’s weird knowing the ending already.  After watching the first episode on TV, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue, to be honest — it’s an HBO show and therefore full of very explicit things — but following through I found that the story is very good.  I can thank Yoona for inspiring me to give it another go… it might have been due to all those good looking guys she mentioned.  Now I’m obsessed too.

Well that’s all for today — this post is long!  Thanks for stopping by!

newest Ravelry faves

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my Ravelry faves with you guys.  These are all knitting patterns.  Let’s dive in! (Click pics to be taken to Ravelry pattern pages.)

the pattern for this one is $6, but it would be cute for work!

looks gorgeous and comfy! It’s $7 for this pattern.

seed stitch cowl in bulky yarn (free!)

this pattern is $6. My roommate and I loved watching curling on the Winter Olympics!

free chevron throw/baby blanket pattern

this pattern is $6

I REALLY want to make this Wonder Woman sweater — I’d just make the red part start a little higher up on the chest. Free pattern

 

would be cute for work. $6.50 for pattern

$7 for this adorable tie-front cardigan

another chevron throw/baby blanket (free pattern)

my boyfriend would love a Space Invaders sweater, but this free pattern is unfortunately in Norwegian and all I can read are the charts. Maybe a hat…

another free baby blanket/throw pattern

pattern is free!

So that’s what I’ve added to my favorites lately.  Sorry there’s no crochet — since I’ve only recently begun knitting I’m still accumulating patterns.  And usually I wouldn’t pay for a pattern but some of these might be worth it, if I was sure of success.

Just “thinking aloud” (although not really, since I’m typing), maybe I could make a pattern for a wonder woman hat that features red and gold yarn for her tiara and then brown/black for the rest, to look like hair.  Sweaters just seem like big projects, and I’ve already got 1 cardigan on my needles.  Editing a pattern would just be an added complication at this point.  Maybe once I get better at knitting I’ll attempt it.

And the pattern for the curling stones is easy to see — I could take that and use it for something else (like improvising my own socks, or making a hat or scarf).

So which ones do you like?  Do any of them look extra hard?  I’d be willing to bet that some of these would be difficult, despite looking doable at first glance.

Well, I’m off to work on some Christmas ornaments.  I started my first one yesterday and I plan on making a lot for Christmas gifts this year.  Thanks for stopping by!

my CAL yarn

My CAL yarn came in the other day!

 

There are more skeins than this but this represents every color I purchased.  The colors are a little off in the picture as well — the hot pink at the top is actually not that “hot,” and the red doesn’t glow like that, haha.  Anyway, here’s the way I keep track of colors:

 

You can see that I marked the Pale Rose shade as the border shade, just so I don’t forget and accidentally use it for a stripe or something (I only got 1 skein of it, and 2 of all the others).  In this photo, the apricot and candyfloss colors are a little duller than they actually are in real life.  With these little tags it’s easy to keep track of how many times I’ve used each color (I put the tag to the side when I’ve used the color in the blanket so that I use every color once before using any color again).

So, participants, have you been practicing any difficult stitches?  Have you received your yarn?  I can’t wait to get started!

finished just in time

In my last post I told you that I was making a cowl for a friend visiting from England, but that there were only 3 days in which to make it.  The deadline was met!

Yep, I finished it in the car on the way to see her.  It’s not as thick as I would have liked but I simply ran out of time.  Good thing I used the crocheted linen stitch instead of trying to do the knit linen stitch, which would have taken much longer!

 

Since the strips of color in the yarn weren’t very long, it looks more like a rainbow camouflage than I had hoped, but it is still very pretty and my friend loved it!

And, since she’s from England, my chef boyfriend Chris decided to do a Southern dinner for her!  We started off with mini crab cakes with jumbo lump crab meat and a dill sauce (no picture for those).  Then we had a low country boil.  Now I should explain a bit about this Southern tradition:  the low country boil is, I believe, unique to the coastal area (aka “low country”) of South Carolina and traditionally includes corn, red potatoes, some kind of sausage, and shrimp.  These ingredients are all boiled together in one pot (often outdoors over a propane burner) with bay leaves or bay seasoning of some sort, strained, and then dumped right onto the PVC coated table cloth.  Well, we did ours inside and didn’t dump everything on the table, but here’s what it looks like (after 6 servings have been taken out):

 

It’s a messy meal because the shrimp aren’t peeled yet and you eat everything with your fingers, but it’s very, very tasty!  Chris also made some homemade butter (with some herbs I can’t remember mixed in) for the corn and potatoes.

Then he made dessert: mini apple pie tarts!  But these were no ordinary tarts: the crust was puff pastry, the apple pie mixture was fresh apples, apple sauce, and bourbon, and there were two unusual additions.  A baked cheese cracker was added, along with candied bacon that Chris made his own rub for.  It was AMAZING:

 

I must say it looked better in real life — you know, I’m sure, that it’s hard to photograph food.  But it was very delicious and I was so proud of Chris!  Everyone loved all of it!

Hopefully we’ll get to see our visiting friend again before she leaves, but she’s headed to the mountains for a few days with the person she’s staying with, so we’ll see.

Well, that’s all for today.  There’s another post lined up but it can wait until later tonight/tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

a lovely gift

I graduated yesterday with my MEd in Clinical Counseling!  All of the students are so glad to be done.  My parents got me a nice card, a delicious dinner, and a beautiful original print, framed and ready to hang somewhere special (hopefully my office, whenever I get a job)!  My aunt, who lives in Arkansas, sent a lovely card with some money to buy myself a present, so of course I got yarn!

This beautiful lace weight yarn is by Araucania Yarns, which is made in Chile (this specific yarn is called Nuble).  It’s a single ply yarn and each hank is 50g/1.76oz and 240yds/219m.  It’s 75% merino and 25% silk, and it’s colorway #2.  I’ve never worked with silk yarn before, or this brand, for that matter, but it’s so soft and beautiful!  This yarn will [theoretically] be made into a cowl within the next 3 days for a friend visiting from England.  A bit last minute, yes, but hopefully it can be done in time.  The verdict is still out on whether to try to do the lovely linen stitch that I’ve been wanting to try or to try the crocheted version.  I’m leaning heavily towards crochet because it seems very daunting to try and knit a whole cowl with lace weight yarn in 3 days, even if I have nothing else to do!  I’m not too fast at knitting yet and my hands do get tired.  Taking care of hands, in fact, leads to my next purchase:

I know I’ve shown you the lavender version of these lovely little lotion rounds, but they smell so good that I just had to get more!  They last a long time, too, which is great, and they would make great gifts if you can stand to let them go!

All of these items were purchased today at my local yarn shop (which isn’t really local as it’s 30 minutes away, but that’s the closest one, so it counts).  It feels nice to support their business, even though these products can probably be found online for a cheaper price, and it’s nice not to have to guess on what something will feel like, and then to wait on shipping.

So you can probably guess what my evening’s going to look like: quick hooking, some hot tea, and most likely a nice Jane Austen movie.  Well, I can’t wait to get started, so I guess that’s all for today!  Thanks for stopping by!

PS:  The Bloglovin’ site that I mentioned the other day should probably be explained for those who don’t know what it is (I didn’t).  It’s a site where you can subscribe to ALL the blogs you follow, not just the ones on WordPress.  That means it’s easy to follow blogs from Blogger or anywhere (and if the blog you want to follow isn’t on the list, you can add it immediately).  All of the posts from the blogs you subscribe to will show up in one handy feed that you can peruse at your leisure, and if you’re browsing the web with Google Chrome (which I would recommend for everyone because it’s amazing), Bloglovin’ will add a little icon next to your search bar that will notify you of new blog posts in your feed.  It’s pretty handy!  They also have an app for the iPhone, but I’ve had a few issues with it so far.  Hopefully they’ll fix it soon — I’ll use it all the time!

bloglovin’ & facebook

If you want to follow this blog but don’t have WordPress to make it easy, you can find and follow it easily on Bloglovin’!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I’ve also made a blog page on facebook and connected it with bloglovin’ so new posts should appear in your news feed if you like the page (no guarantees, I’m new at this).

Feel free to check out those and all the other social media sites located in the widget bar to the right; they include Pinterest, Ravelry, Goodreads, and Instagram as well.