More Scarves and A Blanket

I've been crocheting like a mad woman and have a bunch of finishes to share. First off are a few scarves:


This one is the ribbed SC pattern done in I Love This Yarn Stripes. One skein only makes a child size scarf.


This one is rows of alternating DC and SC done in I Love This Yarn Ombre Pink Camo.


Here we have a granny square scarf done in Red Heart Ombre "Melon Berry" and I Love This Yarn Solids "Hot Rose" and "Peach".

Now here's the exciting part... I finished a baby afghan!




This is done with all I Love That Yarn in Solids. I used a I hook and the square pattern comes from 99 Granny Sqares by Leisure Arts. This took me about 5 nights to finish. I love how it came out!

As usual, you can find all of these finishes for sale in my Etsy store.

Thanks for looking and happy hooking!

Busy Bee is Me

I haven't had a chance to update in a few days, but I was able to finish a few things. First off, here is my first attempt at an amigurumi character. It's a hippo. I didn't give him eyes, it was just more of a test of the pattern, but I think he turned out quite cute nonetheless.




Next are a couple of scarves. The first is another striped and ribbed one in white and red. You'll either be mistaken for Waldo or a giant elf. Done with a I hook and I Love This Yarn brand yarn.



This next one is a granny square scarf. I've decided I really like doing granny squares! This one is again done with an I hook in I Love This Yarn. I'm not sure what the color is called. The pattern is from a book "99 Granny Squares to Crochet" by Leisure Arts.





I've now started my most ambitious project yet, an afghan! It's a granny square pattern, but they're actually hexagons. I'll post a pic of one square tomorrow.

As usual the scarves are for sale on Etsy so check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Twofer

I finished two scarfs last night!




This one is a plum and black striped skinny scarf. The pattern is just single crochets in the back loop to get a ribbed effect. Worsted weight yarn with a J hook.




This one is what I call my "Manly Man" Scarf. The colors are navy, black, maroon, cream, and brown. The pattern is alternating singles and doubles across each row giving a bumpy kind of result. Done with a J hook.

Both of these are for sale in my Etsy store. Check it out by clicking in the banner on the right.

Happy Friday!

The Next Scarf

Here's the scarf I was excited about. The pattern is the most difficult I've tackled so far and I think it came out beautifuly.






They're crossed triple crochets. The pattern is adapted from a book of dishcloths and is done in a sport weight yarn. The yarn is Baby Bee in "Sugar Plum Camo". Of course it is for sale on Etsy.

The next scarf..... its a striped purple and black number for my rocker daughter.

Cheryl

Scarf in Moss

Surprise! It's another scarf. This one done in a solid moss green color. I used a worsted weight yarn and a size J hook. The pattern is rows of V stiches, DC, SC, DC, then V repeated. It was very quick to stitch up.






For sale in my Etsy store!

Tomorrow, I think I might post another scarf lol.

Boo!

Here's the halloween scarf.



I really like how this one came out. It's a very simple single crochet that's done in the back loop only which makes a great ribbed texture. The yarn is "I Love This Yarn" worsted weight acrylic in color "Boo!" and I used a size J hook to get a chunkier feel. The size is 5" wide by 56" long (not including fringe).



It will be up for sale in my Etsy store which you can find links for on the right hand column.

Next project is another scarf done in sport weight with a great pattern. Hopefully done tomorrow!

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Off and Running

Weeeeellll.......

I think I'm hooked (pun intended). I finished the latest scarf last night and I really love how it came out.



It's quite long, about 6ft and measures about 4" wide. It was made with Bernat Sox yarn which is a size 1 Super Fine. The color is camouflage. I don't think it looks camo-ish at all. The colors are a celery green, taupe, tan, and the brown looks a bit purply, so overall the effect is not very masculine at all. The pattern is rows in the following order: 3 rows SC, 2 rows DC, 1 row TC, 2 rows DC, then repeat. I used a size D hook. This one took a couple of days to finish mostly because the yarn is so thin that the rows are very small and it took a lot of rows to get to six feet.

If anyone is interested I will be posting this scarf for sale in my Etsy store.

Next project? Of all things.... another scarf! I might have found my niche already. It will be a Halloween scarf. Look for it tomorrow!

OMG She's a Hooker!

Well the financial situation might be pretty bad, but it's not that kind of hooking! I've actually picked up crochet again. I've tried it a few times in the past, but never really got into it. This time it seems to be sticking. Also, I've developed a severe case of yarnitis. I can't stop buying the yarn in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. So without further ado here is my first finished project:



This is a simple scarf that was made by alternating rows of SC with DC. Very simple, but I think it came out pretty good. It was made with a skein of worsted weight Red Heart yarn in "Artist Print". I used a size J hook.

My next project is another scarf done in fingering weight yarn. I should be done with that one tonight, so look for a new post.

Oh, and as for Cross Stitch, look at the link on the right, I've consolidated the WIP links into a single page, check it out.

Happy Hooking,
Cheryl

Sorry!

I know its been forever since I posted, but working the second job is about killing me! I like the job and the extra money, but time is way more precious than it has ever been for me and I really like to use what little time I have actually stitching, rather than blogging about what I'm stitching. Anyways, there's good news. I finished Butterflies Galore Storykeep. It took me almost exactly one month. Yay! Now if only I could finish a QS. I started the SK Moon Fantasy Freebie stitch-a-long over at the HAED bulletin board. I also started another CC Kuik QS: Nostalgia. So without further ado here are the pictures:

I know those are crappy pics of the two starts, I'll get some better ones over the weekend maybe. Also, check out the WIP page on the right column for Rainbow Mermaid updates!

Have a great weekend,
Cheryl

butterflies update

The new job is going well, so far I really enjoy it. It's taking away from my stitching time but I've still been able to make good progress on Butterflies Galore Storykeep. Here is the latest picture:

Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend. (Memorial Day here in the US)

Mood: procrastinating

Song: Everything Counts - Depeche Mode

rainbow mermaid update

Howdy,

I know I haven't been posting regularly. As is true for many out there our financial situation is not all that hot and I've ended up taking a second job. I'm working in the evenings now which doesn't leave a whole lot of stitching time. I've been able to get some more done on Rainbow Mermaid during slow periods at my day job (one of the reasons I had to take the night job, too many slow periods). Anywho, here's an update pic:

Mood: tired :(

Song: Melt With You - Modern English

no stitchy.. more kitteh

Well, I didn't stitch much over the last two days so I figured I would post a pic of the new kitty instead. He is a manx and he's about 8 weeks old. He doesn't have an official name yet. Here he is with the lab. (she's wearing pants because she's in heat)

Mood: sigh

Song: Lovesong - The Cure

butterflies update

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I would have liked. We got a new kitten on Saturday and I spent a lot of time trying to get him comfortable and introduced to the other animals. He loves the dog, and the other cat hates him. LOL I'm sure it will take a few weeks to get it all sorted out. He's only 7 weeks old an quite tiny. Our labrador thinks he's the best thing ever! Our 2 year old calico female thinks he's lucifer. He keeps coming up to her trying to get her to play and all she does is hiss and growl then run away. Two minutes later she comes looking for him. I'm sure she'll settle down soon.





So my stitching time this weekend was interrupted quite frequently, but here's an update on Butterflies Galore Storykeep:

Mood: Sparkly

Song: Strangelove - Depeche Mode

update to butterflies galore storykeep

Here's the latest update to Butterflies Galore Storykeep. I'm averaging 500 stitches per night. I WILL finish this one before I go back to one of the other 850,000 WIP's I have!

Mood: silly

Song: Long Line of Cars - Cake

sorry!

I know it's been too long since I posted. We've been having some personal issues that were taking up a lot of my time. All better now!

Here's some updates:

Steam Punk Fairy - Finshed page 2 and started page 3:


Butterflies Galore Storykeep - Started - About 2,000 stitches in:


I plan to stitch on the storykeep until I finish it. I shouldn't have started another one, but I couldn't help it. LOL

Happy Stitching!

Mood: stitchy
Song: Once in a Lifetime - Wolfsheim

just call me ms. crankypants

I haven't been stitching as much this week, just don't feel like it. I put in a few stitches, then get ADD and want to go do something else. I wonder if it has anything to do with PMS? I might track that and see, could be pretty interesting. Anyways, of course HAED is having their Easter sale, and of course I had to get a couple of things. Here's what I picked up:

QS Alice in Clockwork by Jasmine Beckett-Griffith

Butterflies Galore Storykeep by Jasmine Beckett-Griffith

I will probably not start these any time soon. I really need to get a finish some day!

Mood: cranky as all get out
Song: Lament - The Cure

rainbow mermaid page 4 done

As promised, here is the picture of Rainbow Mermaid. I finished Page 4 today and started on Page 5. Page 5 is the las full size page. I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel LOL.



Mood: still pretty drenched

surprise!

Well, I told you I started a new big non-HAED project and here it is:



Can you guess what it is?? LOL

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Yep, it's Harry Potter! Well part of his head anyways. I charted this one myself and its going to be huge and very detailed. There are 100 colors and lots of confetti. The part that is stitched is the edge of Hedwig's wing and the beginning of the highlights in Harry's hair. I've wanted to stitch this for a long time. I love the Harry Potter books.

I'm almost finished with page 4 on Rainbow Mermaid. I should finish it today so I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Mood: drenched (torrential rain and flooding here)
Song: How Soon is Now - The Smiths

Some updates and pics

I have been stitching on several projects lately and here are some pics to prove it!

Rainbow Mermaid:


Speckled Fairy:


ACEO Air:


I also started a huge non-HAED project, but I will post about that some other time.

Mood: anti-social
Song: Bio-Vital - Decoded Feedback

i'm here.... kinda

Well,

I just haven't felt like posting. I have been stitching though. I have worked on Steam Punk Fairy, Rainbow Mermaid, and Speckled Fairy over the past few days. I will take some pictures and hopefully post them over the weekend.


DH got his echo results back and everything looks ok. We're eating differently to try to lower his cholesterol, and we've both lost a bit of weight. Hopefully that will continue as I have quite a bit I need to lose.

Prayers to all those up there in the floods!

Mood: Modge Podge (sticky, you know lol)
Song: If You Leave - OMD

Spring is in the air

Howdy!

This past weekend I stitched on Rainbow Mermaid:



I also finished the third column of ten on the first page of Shannon. Sorry no pic of that one.

Mood: Steak
Song: No Phone - Cake

Determined

I'm determined to finish something! I worked again on Steam Punk Fairy last night. I also stitched a bit on Rainbow Mermaid at work yesterday. (Don't tell the boss LOL)

Here's the latest pic of Steam Punk:


I'll probably work on one of the full size charts over the weekend, most likely Shannon or Life Force.

Still waiting on DH's echo results. I think not knowing what's going on is more stressful than anything.

Mood: determined
Song: Wrong - Depeche Mode

No Pics Today :(

I worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night and got almost another column of 10 done on page two. I decided that I didn't like the way the parking was making my stitches come out on the 18ct. It seems bunchy and like the stitches weren't as neat. So from now on, no parking on 18ct with two threads. I didn't have time this morning to take a picture so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, and on Tues night I hardly stitched at all. I just wasn't feeling very well.

Today is DH's echocardiogram so any prayers are well appreciated.


Mood: wiggly
Song: Check in the Mail - General Public

Blah

Still feeling sick. I'm sure not going to let that stop me from stitching though! I worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night, starting to incorporate the parking method. It went pretty well. Because I didn't have the surface area that the scroll frame provides I didn't leave the needle threaded. I just threaded each needle as I went. This took a little more time than I wanted. I'm looking into the spiral eye needles that you can thread quickly. Here's a link to their site: Spiral Eye Needles. I'll let you know what I find out about where to get them and such. Without further ado here's my progress on Steam Punk:



Mood: Snuffley
Song: Shame - Nitzer Ebb

Sick :(

I've picked up quite the bug. Bad sinus and ear infection. Yuck.

I started Shannon by Hannah Disney this weekend and I think I finally understand the whole parking thing. Last time I tried parking I was trying to do all the stitches of one color within the 10x10 block. This caused problems with the threads that were already parked lower in the block. This time I went row by row doing across each row then parking. I was able to stitch much faster for several reasons:

1. I wasn't spending time deciding which color to do next.
2. I wasn't highlighting before I stitched.
3. No threading of needles and changing colors so frequently.

Here's the progress I've made over three days of stitching:


The strings to the right are my waste knots. That worked out very well. I was able to start and stop my threads for the whole column without ever turning the frame to the back side. I only had one knot for the whole weekend. My only issue is that the lap frame I have doesn't fit into my stitching chair.

Plans are to look at floor frames, try the parking on one of my existing WIP's to see if I don't need the frame to do it efficiently. Oh, and get better quick!

Mood: green around the gills
Song: Stripped - Depeche Mode

Sniffle....

I tried to stitch on Steam Punk Fairy last night, but my back was hurting too bad. I had DH crack it (it gets all stiff right between my shoulder blades) but since it had been knotted up all day it was still quite achey. So I just watched some show on the science channel about bugs. Very interesting. Then I woke up with a raw throat and ear drainage, lovely!

Of course HAED's St. Patrick's Day sale started today and I caved. I bought:

Kuik - QS Spring Moony Night
Ravenscroft - Blue Moon
Disney - Shannon

Oh my, like I really need new WIP's!!! I'm going to do the QS on 18ct. I'm going to wait to start that one until I've finished one of the QS's I have already going.

As for the others.... I don't think I have enough fabric to start both of them so one will have to wait. Shannon is calling to me first. I want to try stitching her on my frame and parking. As of right now I stitch everything on a 6" Q-Snap cross country style (well, I finish a small area at a time, but not in measured blocks). I have small hands and I can't hold the 8" ones very easily. I would love to be able to stitch two handed as I'm much faster that way, but I CANNOT STAND to turn the work over to start and stop threads. I plan to work in 10x10 squares downward, park, and use the waste knot method of starting and ending threads.

I'm really not that into the Gustafson's I have started. I love the artwork, but I just can't seem to get into stitching them anymore. I figure that cross stitch is supposed to be fun and not like work, so if I want to ditch something, I can. Besides, no one will yell at me except myself. I really want to stitch on something with some bright colors and Disney's certainly have that!

We'll see how it goes.

Happy Stitching!

Mood - Blue Suede Mittens (figure that one out lol)
Song - Blue Monday - New Order

Steaming Right Along

Got a bunch done on Steam Punk Fairy last night. It really seems to go faster when I'm stitching on the 18ct vs. the 28ct over one. I'm probably doing the same amount of stitches, just the result covers such a bigger area that it feels like more.

Here is my progress as of last night:


I need to work on one of my full size charts tonight, probably one of the Alice ones. We'll see.

Have a great day!

Mood: Pudding Pop
Song: Headhunter - Front 242

No New Tale to Tell

Stitched just for a bit last night on ACEO Air - Butcher. I'm actually doing all four of the elements side by side.

Tonight of course is Ghost Hunters night. I don't watch much TV, this is really the only show I actually plan to watch. Plus it gives me some uninterupted stitching time as no one else will sit with me while I watch.

I don't know what I'll be working on tonight, whatever screams at me when I get home.

Welcome to my new followers! I hope you guys aren't too bored here. I mostly post about stitching as I like to keep my life fairly private.

Mood: still pretty anxious (DH scheduled for echocardiogram for next week)
Song: No New Tale to Tell - Love and Rockets

Bringing Winter Back Out

I worked on ACEO Winter last night. I had started this one a long time ago and was stitching a bit different then. Now I work in smaller areas and make sure I finish all the stitches in that area before I move on. I hate going back in to finish a single stitch. So what I'm doing on Winter is going back and filling in all the areas that I had stitched on before. It also makes it easier to track how many stitches I've done if there aren't any missing stitches.

Mood: anxious (don't want to share with the world why)
Song: Gold Dust - Tori Amos

New Laptop

Well, I got a "new" laptop for the office. It's one that a customer didn't want to fix (had a broken screen and a bad hard drive). We fixed it up and now I'm on Vista for the first time. I hate Vista but, I have to learn the ins and outs of it to be able to help customers with it. I expect lots of crashes and cusing.

Anyways,

I stitched on Mermaid of the Deep for the HAED SWIP/UFO stitch-a-long this weekend and here are the results:


This chart is either confetti or LARGE areas of the same color. The result is striking though.

Mood: Vistatic (NOT!)
Song: Smokey Joe - Tori Amos

Friday YAY!

Last night I stitched on Rapture of Psyche for a little while. Not too much done. Tonight starts the UFO/SWIP stitch along at the HAED bulletin board. I will be working on Mermaid of the Deep. Hopefully I will get some stitching time. Here's the list of other things that have to get done this weekend:

Haircut for DH
Find tuxedo shirt and black lace up shoes for DD's band uniform
Take DD's clarinet to music shop for them to look at cork problem
Build and paint the new sign for the new store
Finish clearing out and cleaning the old store
General Housework and laundry
Repair my small bookcase and get all the books back in it

Stitching time? Yeah right.

Mood: Gooey
Song: Six Different Ways - The Cure

They just don't get it

My whole family thinks I'm nuts because I like to watch Ghost Hunters. My DH can't even be in the room. LOL

Stitching last night was on Rapture of Psyche:


Coming along good now. If you step back from this one a few feet it looks amazing. Somehow the colors are never right on the pictures I take. Oh Well, you get the idea.

I signed up on the HAED bulletin board to do a UFO/Slow WIP stitchalong this weekend. I chose to work on Mermaid of the Deep. Its been a while since I worked on her and I'd love to get a little closer to being done.

Mood: Broke again
Song: A Mistake - Fiona Apple

Oh, The Rapture... Not

Well, as is my usual way of doing things, I totally went off course again. I actually sat down and fixed my Rapture of Psyche. I had an incident a couple of months ago where I discovered that my 613 was actually 612. Not fun. I could have cried when I found out. At that point I put away this WIP to be fixed when I wasn't so upset. I guess that ended up being last night. I frogged all the 613 and re-stitched it with the right color. I absoluetly love this painting and I really want to finish this cart. Here's a picture of the original painting call "The Rapture of Psyche" by Bourguereau:



Isn't that stunning?

I'll have to upload my progress pics and get a WIP page for it since I'll be putting it into my rotation.

Mood: Goober
Song: One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx

Nope

I didn't do any stitching last night. First day at the store went very well, then DH and I went out to dinner, then I went to Target, then I put away all the laundry. After all that I just didn't have any time to stitch.

Tonight I plan to put away Life Force and pull out another of the full size HAEDs to work on. Haven't decided which one yet.

I did set some goals for myself for this year. My focus pieces will be:

FULL SIZE
1. Advice From a Caterpillar - Gustafson - HAED - 0 Pages done
2. Life Force - Ravenscroft - HAED - 1 Page Done
3. Mad Tea Party - Gustafson - HAED - 1 Page Done
4. Queen's Croquet Ground - Gustafson - HAED - 1 Page Done
5. Mermaid of the Deep - JBG - HAED - 1 Page Done

SMALLER
1. Rainbow Mermaid - Kuik - HAED - 3 Pages Done
2. Steam Punk Fairy - Dillman - HAED - 1 Page Done
3. Speckled Fairy - Vinson - HAED - 2 Pages Done

Goals:
Finish 3 pages on each of the full size charts
Finish 2 of the smaller charts

Well I'm sure it's possible to do this, but probable? Who knows. I really want a finish!

Mood: Chinese Food
Song: Some Girls are Bigger Than Others - The Smiths

Yay! New Office!

I'm so happy that we've completed the move and are open at the new location. It's so much nicer and more comfortable.

I did have some time for stitching this weekend and here is my progress on Rainbow Mermaid:



Mood: giddy
Song: Private Life - Oingo Boingo

Cutest Pain in the Butt

I was browsing the blog backgrounds at Cutest Blog on the Block and I have just one question:

How much money are you guys getting from Microsoft to promote Internet Explorer 8?????

There is absolutely no reason why someone using an older browser (which I do by choice) should have to be subjected to horrendous ads and then not be able to copy and paste the code without downloading a newer browser.

On principle, I will not be using one of their blog templates.

BTW, we never download any update to Windows or IE when it first comes out. We know there is a period of time where MS uses the general public as beta testers. I will eventually go to IE 8, but surely not now!

Mood: quite aggravated

Ghost Hunting

Howdy! Last night was Ghost Hunters night again and this time I stitched on Steam Punk Fairy. I don't know how much stitching I'll be able to do over the weekend as we are moving the store tomorrow! I'm quite excited to get started. It's so much nicer than where we are now. I'm suffering from more and more frequent headaches and upset tummy and I think it's due to spending too much time at the old store. There were/are rats in the attic and if you lift the ceiling tile its just full of rat and roach poo up there. I know breathing that in all day is not good for me. If you're wondering, there are good reasons why we didn't go to the landlord. I'm not going to go into it here, but we did what we could.

Anywhatever, we'll be closed tomorrow to begin the move and will open on Monday morning at the new location. I'll try to sneek in some stitching over the weekend and maybe some progress pics as well.

Mood: Eager Beaver
Song: Bitter Apple - Dave Gahan

Pictures!

I finally got some pictures taken this morning.

Here is my progress on Life Force:


Here is my progress on Steam Punk Fairy:


I also got the WIP page updated for Steam Punk Fairy.

Mood: Willy Wonka is my Hero
Song: Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos

Stitch-Capades

Crazy day at the office.

Worked on Steam Punk Fairy last night. Got in 300 more stitches.

Don't feel like typing right now.


Mood: Oodles of Noodles
Song: Comfort Eagle - Cake

Time is one thing I don't have enough of

Not getting much stitching done, we've been busting butt to get the new store ready to be opened a week from tomorrow. Painting Painting Painting

Anyway, I did get a bit of a break last night and stitched on Rainbow Mermaid for a while. I also took the time today to update the Alice WIP pages and put them into the WIP links on the RIGHT side. I keep switching up the blog layout and they keep switchig sides. I still am not 100% happy with the blog look. I plan on tweakig a bit when I get the content all finished. I want the 425 pixel preview from Webshots to fit nicely in the column and right now it doesn't. Oh well.

I feel like I'm finally learing that it's ok to sit down and just stitch for an hour. I always feel like I'm not getting enough done when I don't stitch for several hours straight. I'd love to be able to stitch all day but that independently wealthy gene seemed to skip my whole dang family tree.

Til Tomorrow!

Mood - Leggo my Eggo
Song - Cuts You Deep - Peter Murphy

Surprise Update :)

Here is the picture I erased from Webshots earlier:



Also, I updated and added the Rainbow Mermaid WIP page to the list on the left.

Nighty Night

A Pot of Gold?

So last night was Ghost Hunters night and of course I had to hog the TV from my son who wanted to play rock band. I stitched on Rainbow Mermaid while I watched and got quite a bit done.

Here is my progress on Rainbow Mermaid:


I did have a picture of Life Force, but stupid me accidently deleted the album from Webshots. Of course I'm at work and don't have to pictures on this computer to upload them. So... you can just use your imagination.

Tonight? Hmm... we'll probably be at the new store painting. I am the trim and cut-in specialist. My job always takes so much longer than DH's. sigh

For anyone who gives a hoot we own a small computer repair company. We handle IT services for small businesses and walk in customers. Not exactly my dream job; my degree is in Accounting and Finance, but at least we'll be in demand even in the worst economy. And yes, I do work on the computers. I've finally been promoted from apprentice to level 1 technician after almost 4 years. Actually I handle most of the walk in work for the store.

That's all for now

Mood: Where's my Happy Pills Dammit!
Song: The Well - Axoe