Adult SF Giants lap blanket

Another finished blanket. This one I started at the end of July. My plan was to make it in 2 weeks for my husband's birthday in August, but it got pushed aside for other projects.

I found the basic chevron pattern online in various places to start the base. Once I began, I realized it was too wide so I just did a sideway chevron pattern instead of starting over.

After 4 months, my husband finally got his blanket :)

Yarn Used: Loops & Threads Impeccable in Black, Pumpkin, & Aran

My Blanket :)

Last Christmas, I received a gift certificate from my Goddaughter to Joann's.  With the funds, I bought yarn to make myself a lap blanket for my couch.

I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice (which was on sale--I don't care if it is a gift certificate or not, I always use a coupon or buy yarn on sale :D ) in Chocolate, Dusty Green, Mustard, and Beige.  I really liked the 70's vibe it gives off.

Because I love free patterns, I used a free pattern from Lion Brand called Modern Alchemy Afghan.  I made 2 adjustments to the pattern.  1-because I hate weaving in the ends, I went with 4 rows instead of 2 when changing colors.  2-I wanted a mirror imaged pattern, so half way through the blanket, I went with 8 rows in the middle then changed my colors opposite from the way I did when I started. (clear as mud?  ha ha ha)

I actually finished this blanket months ago and I use it all the time (even in the summer!).  I love it!!!  Thank you, Nicole!!! :)

Chunky Slouchy Beanie

Last week, I found this cute crochet hat pattern on Ravelry by Polkdot Squirrel.  I asked my daughter if she thought my niece would wear it and she said yeah (my daughter doesn't wear crocheted hats :/ ).  So I bought the pattern at Etsy.

Since I liked the look of the hat on Ravelry, I used the same yarn from Michaels called Loops and Threads Charisma in Off-White.

I usually crochet very tightly, so I used a bigger hook than the pattern called for, but it was way too big.  Then I used the size the pattern called for and it was still a bit big, so I went with a smaller hook.  I thought it was pretty cute--a bit big, but cute.  My daughter thinks it is way too big still--I am not sure if I will pull it back a couple of rows or not.  

I was going to give it to my niece for Christmas, but since she is coming over on Thanksgiving, maybe I will see what she thinks about the size.

Project Life ~ Weeks 7-10 (October)

Instead of filling 4 more posts of my PL pages, I am just going to put the whole month of October in one post.  I might do this from now on.  My journal cards aren't very elabroate--even though in my mind I wanted them to be, so there isn't much detail to show off.

Week 7

Wednesday - TV-Survivor--Only show we watch as a family
Thursday - TV--Guilty pleasure Grey's Anatomy :)
Friday - Our Favorite Mexican Restaurant
Saturday - World CardMaking Day
Sunday - SMASH Book addition to my addiction
Monday - Failed Crockpot Ribs
Tuesday - Pinterest idea made

Week 8

 

Wednesday - Finished 49er baby blanket
Thursday - TV--Big Bang Theory
Friday - "I Love Yarn Day"
Saturday - Movie--Pitch Perfect
Sunday - TV--Once Upon a Time
Monday - 16 year old Check up
Tuesday - Sick day--Technology to work at home

Week 9

 

Wednesday - TV--Season Premier of American Horror Story
Thursday - Nerd Accountant--Love new Journal Paper 
Friday - Pumpkin Carving at work (lost)
Saturday - Celebrated my friend from elementary school's birthday!!!
Sunday - TV--Revenge
Monday - October birthday celebration with mom and brothers
Tuesday - Take out night

Week 10

 

Wednesday - Instagram Post//Instagram Icon
Thursday - TV--Elementary
Friday - Wanting to get into shape
Saturday - My son's 16th birthday!!! (he just wanted to stay home, play video games, and eat junk food)
Sunday - The SF Giants win the World Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday - My current Michaels stash
Tuesday - Pumpkin Bread!!!

Lots of TV still...hoping to have my TV guide wind down soon, but it is an easy filler for my days right now.

Project Life ~ Week 6

I am a bit behind posting my PL pages.  But here is week 6.

I have decided to go back and rounding all the edges of my pages, because I like the look better.  

So far, keeping up isn't that hard.  I usually print the pictures once a week, but this last time, I had about 4 weeks of journaling to do--I had the cards in place, but I just had to sit down and write.  Some days I am trying to fill up the space while other days I am trying to squish the rest of my sentenance at the end of the card.

Wednesday-  Spirit week continues Super Hero day--her shoes are Superman too!

Thursday-  Spirit week--Disney day

Friday-  Spirit week Skit--her first time participating

Saturday- We went to a street fair in Morgan Hill

Sunday- Season premier of Dexter!!!

Monday- More tv...Love my Castle

Tuesday- Work "summer" party

Happy "I Love Yarn Day"

(image from the Craft Yarn Council--yes, there is a council for this!)

I cannot believe there is a day for loving yarn...I will take it :)

When I saw it was I Love Yarn Day, I knew my POTD (Picture of the day) for my PL (Project Life) would be about my yarn.

Then I started pulling out my stash of yarn...eek!  It must have multipled while being stored ha ha ha.

Here are a couple of my favorite thick yarns--Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick and some leftovers of Lion Brand Hometown USA

I like using Spinkles Cupcake bags as storage :)  These bags contain Red Heart Soft (I love using this yarn for baby blankets--it is soft for babies and come in more colors than just pastels) , Lily Sugar and Cream, Lion Brand Lion Cotton, Bernat Handicrafter Cotton (for Susan G. Komen for the Cure), Lion Brand Lion Organic Cotton and a skein I picked up at a craft faire.

More of my favorite:  Lion Brand Cotton Ease (my favorite for bags!), Lion Brand Baby's First (similar to Cotton Ease, but thicker--and only pastels), Bernat Softee Chunky, and Yarn Gang (Discontinued Michaels brand).

And the rest of it...Red Heart Super Saver (I don't care for this at all, it is cheap, but I am not that cheap), Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe, Stitch Nation Full o' Sheep, Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, Lion Brand Wool-Ease, Lion Brand Homespun, Red Heart Baby Clouds, Plymouth Yarn Heaven (the only yarn I have overpaid for at a Yarn store--I know support the local stores, but I am cheap), Red Heart Designer Sport (this one is a bit thin), Patons Classic Wool, Loops & Threads Impeccable (Michaels brand), and Bernat Waverly.

When I first started crocheting, I thought buying yarn was like buying pretty scrapbook paper--but it doesn't work that way :)  I have since learned to have a project in mind then buy the yarn--although I still buy yarn in hopes to do project that never come to be.

(this must be a record--4 posts in 1 week!!)

Craft Room update

It has been a few months since I started to rearrange and paint my Craft room.  So far, I have only completed about 1/2 the room.

Here is a look at the first completed wall.

All of the items hung on the wall are repurposed (hopefully I will blog the transformations I made on the boards).  The desk was here but I did finally add some handles.  My husband uses the desk sometimes when he is on a conference call for work, but for the most part it is all mine (and most of the time it has mail piled high--the magazine holder isn't usually as clean either :p)

Here is the before...

The calendar white board and cassette (now stamp) holder did not change, but were moved.  I have previously blogged about how I repurposed the cork and magnet boards from Target.  Gone is the fax machine, but now we have a much larger desk hogging printer that has fax capabilities as well, as you can see from the 2nd wall that is completed.

Unfortunately (fortunately?), this wall has the door and my tiny window, so it didn't take too much time to complete this wall :D  {I didn't shut the door because the back of the door has not been painted (it should have been painted way too many years ago, but we always forget it isn't painted on the back).

It feels so much cleaner and less cluttered.  You can see from the before picture that the right wall doesn't have all that stuff on it--woo hoo!  But that wall has a few more touches to add before unveiling it.

49ers baby girl blanket

After 6 weeks, I have finally finished the baby blanket my husband asked me to make for his friend's new baby.

The majority of the blanket didn't take too long to make, but the border took me a few tries before I was happy. And just a fun fact, there are 49 rounds to this 49er blanket :)

You may think why a football colored blanket for a baby girl? Well first, I don't think my husband wants to give a girly blanket to his friend (hahaha), but more importantly, the baby's mom is much more into sports than into girly :)

Happy World Card Making Day!

In order to celebrate World Card Making Day, I wanted to make a Halloween card.

I was happy with only completing one card, but while looking through my Basic Grey papers, I found a Basic Grey card making kit I bought a while ago at Ross.

Now I have 8 kit cards to go to in a pinch.

Project Life~Week 5

Wednesday~Toy shopping for my niece's birthday!

Thursday~Chuck E. Cheese for my niece's 4th birthday!

Friday~Watching the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly above us at work

Saturday~First day of Fall--my Seasonal pumpkin finds

Sunday~Using my Cricut Craft Room to make mustaches

Monday~Spirit Week~Pajama Day!

Tuesday~Deleting my Social Network {very liberating}  

(The girl didn't dress up for Twin Day during Spirit Week)