Scott Pilgrim Hat - The Mock Up

A day off work means a day to craft and the first version of the Scott Pilgrim Hat is currently done and on my head. I have this much to say: I am NOT starting in on version 2.0 with the fancy Sublime Merino. I kinda HATE knitting. Maybe that is extreme, and I may take that back later in life should I change my mind. All I know is for now, I am ready to pick up a crochet hook. 

Also, I finished this hat 5 days before my BFF's birthday, and if I am not too lazy, I may be able to get in in the mail on time. I am also considering wearing it to work tomorrow, but I am trying to gauge how goofy I would look. We are required to wear hats, but I am not positive of the boundaries of what is acceptable. 

Oh yeah, I got in touch with an online yarn shop owner out of Canada, and she agreed to special order for me the exact color/brand yarn that the pattern specifies for my Scott Pilgrim hat. Which means, in the end I will have made 3 hats, all of which are knitted, of which I am sick of doing. Also, besides myself and my BFF Cory, I don't know anyone who wants one...not even my fiance. Oh well, I plan to put off making the next 2 anyway, I'll just save the yarn and the pattern for later, until the knitting weariness wears off. As for now, I crochet! Or play some WoW...or go to sleep...we'll see.

Hat for Roz

Good evening everyone!  Watching Seinfeld tonight, which would be nice if the heater weren't so loud that I can't hear it really. Sometimes I try to crank up the volume so I can hear the TV over the heater, but that just results in headaches-ville. Don't really want to turn off the heat either, it sure is chilly tonight. Here is my most resent achievement in crochet: 

I made this for Roz, my friend from work, for her grandson. I think I am doing better with the masculine hats, you kinda have to change gears when you are used to making girly things. But I can really see the improvement from what I used to make. I started the Scott Pilgrim hat last week. Right now I am making a sort of mock up "first draft" version of the hat using regular acrylic yarn: Caron Simply Soft. I bought the pattern from Lulu Bee, but it is a knitting pattern and I am not so good at that, so I want to have a trial run. The pattern calls for Diamond Yarn Luxury Collection Fine Merino Superwash DK in Middle Brown and Blue Grey. This yarn is nearly impossible to find online. When I finally did find it, the seller didn't ship to the United States. Another site only sold the brown and not the blue. Unless I take a road trip to Canada, I really don't think I'm getting this yarn. Poor business strategy if you ask me. So I went even FARTHER and ordered a similar yarn from the UK, Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK in the colors Clipper and Fruitcake. It was actually kind of cool receiving a package with Royal Mail postage on it and a customs declaration. Yes, I am easily thrilled. I should order from overseas more often. I was really worried about the color difference, but I really think after looking at the yarn that it will work out alright. If you check out the link on Diamond yarn you can compare for yourself. 

My fancy European yarn. In two different poses...just in case you didn't quite get the full effect from the first one. Now I am just afraid of using it and messing it up. 

Hats for Twins

This week I finished a couple hats for a friend with 2 year old twin girls. I used a different brand of yarn than I usually do, Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand, which is a little thicker than my usual Caron's Simply Soft. Really the only reason for the switch is that I needed to find a really great burgundy. I personally think burgundy and pink look really cute together, although I have heard some objections. What do you think?

Usually I use a five petal flower with a yellow center, but this time went for something different: the Irish Rose, a pattern I got from Lion Brand Yarn. The Irish Rose was actually supposed to be one round bigger, but due to the thickness of the yarn and gauge, the flower was getting huge, so I stopped short. As for all hats for babies/kids, I just hope, hope, hope they fit. I threw in a hat for her older daughter too:

I have been watching the Scott Pilgrim movie this evening. I love it. I got it from Netflix and am kinda thinking about not returning...for a while at least. There is a hat Scott wears towards the beginning of the film, when he is picking up Knives Chau from school. I am thinking this will be an upcoming project; the original maker of the hat sells the pattern online. I sure hope Jo-Ann's has a similar yarn to what the pattern specifies. I am not too interested in special ordering expensive yarn from Canada.

Yay New Year!

So Christmas is over and my so is my crocheting/crafting marathon. I wouldn't say the whole thing was a total failure, but pretty close. The presents that I made weren't done in time for Christmas, but the people who I decided to buy presents for (due to time shortage) did get their presents on time. Thank you, online shopping! So about a week ago I finally made it to the post office and sent out the finished projects. I kind of hate the feeling of going to the post office now though. I go in there with these things that I care so much about and worked so hard on and leave empty handed. I know they should be getting where they are going, its just psychologically weird, paying someone to take your stuff. Anyway, here are a few things I whipped up for presents:

This is a bunny I crocheted for my niece, Alisen. I got the pattern from Lion Brand Yarn, and it is called Best Bunny. This is the first toy I've crocheted, if you don't count the D20 I made, which I don't really. D&D players are so serious about the game I think they would be insulted a bit if I said they are playing with toys. Speaking of a D20...

I made another D20 for my brother, who is also a player of the game. Tried a different color than Cory's. I actually liked the way this one turned out better than the first, I think I crochet it a little tighter. These two got sent, plus the blanket for Greyson, and for Selina I made a blue version of the purple hat I had made Myc'keeta. I also sent out some homemade place mats for my mom and a black knitted scarf for my dad, both of which I forgot to take pictures of. Oops. Now that Christmas presents are over and done, I can get to work on some custom orders for hats. I had been asked by a few people for specific things way back in November, but haven't had a chance to work on them with my own projects in the works!

All day craft day

I had the whole day off so I got to work, which wasn't really work, because crafting is one of my favorite things to do. I finished the Big PROJECT I have been working on for about 2 months! For being such a big project, it turned out a little small...smaller than I expected.

 

This is yet ANOTHER baby blanket I made for Greyson, for a Christmas present. I got the pattern out of the book that I originally used to teach myself to crochet The Easy Learn To Crochet In Just One Day. It is, by far, the biggest thing to date that I have crocheted. The one thing I regret is that the colors I picked don't make it look like a baby blanket, the combination is not cutesy enough. And that it is ultra tiny. Oh well, if it had been much bigger I might have given up on it, because blankets take forever, especially when you are using a small hook and a single crochet. I think this is the first and last blanket I will be making for a while, but it was a great learning experience. 

I am so glad this one is done, I still have a lot more projects I want to make for Christmas presents. Even though I got a lot of crafting done today, it feels like I have been such a slug. I suppose it is because crafting often forces you to sit still for hours. Plus I had the TV on to entertain me while I crafted. Nothing like the old tube to make you feel like a slug. I tried to kick the feeling by doing some dish washing, but the satisfaction was short lived. I bought the first season of "The Vampire Diaries" on black Friday for $12 and watched a few episodes today. I hadn't seen much of it before I bought it; it was recommended to me. Quite dramatic I must say, I definitely want to see where this show is going.

Denver and Back Again

I haven't written in a while. I am actually a little tired, and wouldn't be blogging right now if it weren't that I have been wrapping up some of my projects and don't want to get behind. This month has been pretty eventful. Lots of exciting stuff going on. Earlier this month I got to go to Denver with my parents to visit my brother's family and see his new baby. We had a great time, I even had a little spare time to crochet a hat for their daughter Alisen. 

It turned out pretty good, but I couldn't get Alisen to put it on, so I am not too sure if it fits right. Maybe I should have just sneaked up behind her, I am pretty sure 2 year olds can't hold grudges for disobeying their will. The trip was so much fun, we went to a restaurant named Casa Bonita, which I found out later, was featured on the show South Park. Also did a lot of shopping with my mom and went to the movie "Unstoppable" with my brother. The hardest part was coming home. It was terrible, I got off the plane in Baltimore at 12pm, went to work from 2pm-9pm, then worked the next morning. Ouch. On top of the physical toll, I missed my family so much after leaving them. Colorado was beautiful! It was so hard to come home after such a greaty-great trip.

This is me and my momma. Its craaazy how much we look alike in this pic. Since the trip, Chris and I had a great Thanksgiving, and I made the whole meal myself. Success! And for the post-thanksgiving shopping, this afternoon we went out and got a few seasons of TV shows for super cheap. Now its time to watch some with my Chris!

Boy Hats

Today I put down the big project and started working on a few hats that my mom asked for ages ago. She knows a few families in her church who have baby boys, and she wanted a few hats for baby shower gifts. Hats seem so easy now in comparison to "the big project", much easier for sure. I just realized in the past couple days how many requests I have to fill, and how many presents for Christmas I have to make, I have a sinking feeling that not all of it will get done. I supposed I should just be glad I never got around to setting up and etsy.com shop, or else I would be in big trouble, having to fill orders too.

I like the ways these turned out, although I think one of them looks a little John Deere or Packers or something. I was trying to make some that weren't all blue, just to rebel against the cliche . I feel a little out of touch with masculine baby things, and I wish there was a male equivalent to the crocheted flower detail. In other news, I got into UMBC today! Yay! I am both relieved and terrified. I am glad that things are going well, and I have been approved for instate tuition, but I am afraid that trying to remember/relearn all the chemistry and biology and math will be killer. I can only do my best. I want to try to get into the Dental Hygiene program at the University of Maryland medical campus in downtown Baltimore, but first I have to finish the prerequisites.  

I worked with a dentist in Honduras this year and it really inspired me to get back to school. Chris and I went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate. I feel like everything is happening all at once. I made it to the Rally to Restore Sanity, made it out to vote, got into school, next week I am going to visit my parents and my brother's family. Good thing I made it to the rally so I could stock pile some sanity to last me a while. Actually, although the message of the rally was sanity, and everyone behaved very politely and courteously, the crowd was so huge, and filled with people in costumes (maybe due to the event's proximity to Halloween, maybe just people getting into the spirit of comedy), the whole thing wasn't the really relaxing or sane. I am glad we went though, it was so worth it!