Mint Cowl

Yes Yes, my knitted cowl. I have been working on this since January. I have ripped it out (started over) more than 40 times I am sure. But this last time, being summer and all, I decided I am just going to keep going, mistakes and all. I am embarrased to send you the link, but it is supposed to look like this. so beautiful....

It's a ribbing pattern of K1P1 and it took me awhile to get the hang of all the switching back and forth. But it was fun and fast by the end. I did however, mess up, you can tell by the line of the cowl near the bottom. And it looks different from the purlbee cowl because I wasn't using cashmere. But its still soft and stretchy and I think I will get a lot of use out of it next fall/winter.

I was inspired by this guy's blog that I found on ravelry.com, who said he never fixes knitting/crocheting mistakes unless they are really easy fixes. I really liked that. And his stuff was really nice. Although I am too much a perfectionist to let things go all the time, but in some instances, it does add character to a piece.

I need better backgrounds for taking photos and a new model (besides myself). I am going to work on that this summer. Maybe take my work to the park and photograph it. I can't wait to share what I have been working on these past couple of weeks!

Elizabeth Stewart

I really am becoming a serious homemaker. Today I crocheted, hemmed my clothes and justin's clothes, made some banana bread and cleaned the house. If only I could get paid to do all these things *sigh* I have to go to work tomorrow.

Desert Mariposa Lily

Summer has finally made it to Chicago, time for some lighter weight, brighter yarns. Desert Mariposa Lily is the name of this yarn as given by the seller. Apparently its a type of flower that I have never had the priveledge of meeting. This seller has a lot of great looking handmade yarns, you can find her etsy store here

I again had big plans for this, but its difficult to work with something as fine as thread. We will have to see what I come up with. This one is made of baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere. This is some fancy stuff.

Riding to work with Doogie Houser

Everyday I walk to the corner of Belmont and Broadway and take either the bus to another bus or the bus to the train. I've noticed that when I take each route I see the same people. I guess that is what happens when you take public transit. When I take the bus to another bus there are a few characters on my first leg. 1) A short blonde girl who carries her lunch in various department store bags 2) A nanny who takes a 5 year old girl to school 3) A french lady who has the cutest 3 year old on the planet. 4) My bus driver who is super friendly. The second leg of that same trip which is approximately 3 miles north of where I live includes: 1) A philipino girl that goes to high school and 2) DOOGIE HOUSER.

These characters never cross over on their routes until today...

Today I took the bus/train trip. The only character that is consistent on the train is a girl I have never spoken to that we will refer to as "Linda." Linda lives in my neighborhood, and we might be neighbors because I see her walk her dog some mornings. And she works across the street from me. We exchange smiles but thats about it. BUT TODAY....Doogie Houser was on my train. What in the world? I figured he lived 3 miles north of me, but now I am not so sure. I say "Doogie" because he looks like the younger Neil Patrick Harris. Anywho. Doogie sat in front of me on the train. Maybe because he is not used to the train and felt more comfortable sitting next to a familiar face. That or he is stalking me.

There is another girl on my floor, Elisha, who used to leave at the exact same time as me in the mornings. We would take the elevator down together and walk to the same bus, but it was so akward that we would walk about 2 feet apart and never sit by each other on the bus. Once I sat by her and started the small talk, but after the small talk we were left with yet another awkward silence. I see her on the weekends sometimes, but never on the way to the bus anymore. Maybe she adjusted her schedule to avoid those awkard moments.

Isn't it weird though? I see these people everyday, but I do not know them. Elisha, Linda, and Doogie are all my age but we are at that age that you can't just talk to some random person and become their friend. It's kind of sad because I think they could make good friends. Elisha has carries a fun orange purse, Linda has fun shoes, and Doogie looks like he might have a couple of good jokes. How does one make friends at 28?

Got the Gerd

Went to the doctor today, my wheeze has been attributed to GERD. I thought I was eating "healthier" but among the foods to avoid is tomatos and mint and I used 7 tomatos, garlic and fresh mint for a sauce last night. Who knew? Well at least I can't be blamed for getting my co-workers sick. I'm thinking of trying chiropractic care, because amazingly, my new insurance covers it partially and I can't imagine taking prilosec for 2 months. Anyone have any opinions on that? Marilen, David, you should ask Melissa for me.

A gift

I got this bookmark as a gift from Kathy. It's so pretty and actually matches the book I am reading right now. Yay! I love presents.

Raisins n' creme Scarflette

Made this awhile back...

I'm a sewin'

It took me about 6 uninterrupted hours to figure out how to thread my sewing machine, but I'm up and running now. So now I need to learn how to properly sew. I decided my first test would be to do a pouch for my knitting needles, because my yarn stash is a mess and the needles make everything even more tangled. Turned out decent. I am going to take a half day class, probably next weekend...so more projects are on their way.

Beagle Saddle?

So you know that really ramen looking yarn I posted awhile ago? Well its been sitting there, too weird to do anything with, so I decided to learn a new stitch with it. I won't be buying any more of that yarn, so I ended up with an awkard square because I didn't want to make a scarf. So for this post's sake, we will call it the Beagle Saddle. If Mona liked blankets like other beagles I know, this might be perfect. This also falls into my series of 60's posts. I think I might have bought the retro fabric and this yarn on the same day. It's cute, maybe I should have made a scarf. Too late now, this yarn is not forgiving, try to undo 1 stitch you've got yourself into a nightmare. But the blanket could get me in trouble with other bloggers such as "What not to crochet." I hope I never land myself on there. They make fun of what people crochet and list their posts by "fug" category. It's quite hilarious. You should check it out

60's oven mitt

Bear with me, I have a couple of dated looking craft projects to post. The first is an oven mitt that I crocheted way back when (last October). But a crocheted oven mitt doesn't really work, because there are holes and you can burn yourself. So I bought a sewing machine (to sew onto crochet). But I have read that sewing machines and crochet don't mix....well unless you are talented in which I am not. So I hand sewed a felt piece and a little fabric on top of this crochet square. I figured, I won't try to fight my kitchen design. I will just go with it. Plus the 60's rock right?

Ok if any crocheter stumbles upon my page...know that the stitches might look strange because I used the stamp tool in photoshop to clean off some lent that I got from the washing machine. Stitches include a double crochet with some front and back post stitches. Fun Stuff!

June Gloom

Sorry for the double post. But its been gloomy lately. Ok we had some sun this past weekend, but besides that it has been rainy and cold. Today in the 40's. It's June and in the 40's. So I remembered the term "June Gloom" from when I was in LA. I googled it, thinking this may be a typical occurence everywhere except Texas. But wiki confirms its a 'Cali' thing. Well the Wiki article ends like this....June Gloom has been reported by some Californians to bring on symptoms consistent with seasonal affective disorder. It is often cited as a time of depression.

Are you kidding me? Come on Californians...you have 186 days of sun a year, that's more than half the year. I remember wishing for rain when I lived there. But I seriously think I have the seasonal affective disorder, simply because Los Angeles spoiled me with sun.

crocheting a hug

When I found out my best friend's mom had cancer and was having surgery, I immediately started crocheting. Heavy scarf season was on its way out, a blanket would take too long. So I settled for a slanket of sorts. Or skanket, but that sounds bad. Ok... a pocket shawl. I figured hospitals are cold, especially during a Texas summer, and since I couldn't be there with her, it could hug her since I couldn't. Well I had big plans for this shawl. I picked out a blue yarn because I thought it would be calming, but if I had to do it over again, I might have picked green because its healing. I had planned to line the pockets with cute fabric that I found, but could not figure out how to sew the lining in. And the crocheting took me longer than expected. I also edged the shawl about 10 times in different colors before settling on the cranberry color. I wanted it to be perfect. I learned a lot from this project.... what stitches work well as a drape, how to join in new yarn (which my book does totally backwards...in case you're wondering you just tie a knot around the old yarn), how to edge something with chain spaces. But it did not come out as I had dreamed, there were errors and I didn't finish it in time so it didn't make it to the hospital. I feel horrible about that. It is, however, very warm and very soft. I loved crocheting it on my lunch hour at work because its very cold at my office.

Her surgery went really well, she is walking, and hopefully settling in at where the hug awaits her. She has been like a mother to me. I love her very much and hope that gets well soon!