Easter with Will

No, I didn't make a new friend, I have been watching "Wild Wild West" this evening, starring one William Smith. I never saw it when it came out...didn't actually want to see it now, but it was sitting in my Netflix instant queue for months and I gave into watching it just so I wouldn't feel guilty removing it without. I wish I liked the movie. It is a weird feeling; its the same way I felt about "The Last Airbender" movie. I wanted sooooooo bad for it to be good. I wanted to like it. I like "Avatar: the Last Airbender" cartoon, I wanted the movie to be awesome...but both it and "Wild Wild West" were consumed with such undeniable suckiness. This is me ^^^ up above this fine evening. No makeup! I wanted to post about my recent creations, including the hat in the picture, but I wasn't about to get all gussied at 1am. So I guess you get what you see. MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Exactly as I am right now. There really isn't anything to the hat. I just wanted a slouchy, beret/tam hat. It was an extremely easy pattern on Ravelry; just made it to put my hair in sometimes. Not all the time though...that would be ridiculous.

 

This is actually something I am quite proud of. I think it turned out amazing. First time for me making a hat with a brim and/or strap. Pattern here, for those with Ravelry accounts. I also choose to make it in with Lily's Sugar and Cream 100% cotton yarn, because, here in Baltimore at least (sorry you folks in the north country) it is almost summer and I wanted the baby boy to be able to wear his present with out getting over heated. The brim will keep the sun out of his eyes, the hat will keep his head from getting sunburned, the cotton will keep him cool... I put alot of thought into it. But I feel like you have to when it comes to baby stuff...if you look at baby head circumferences they grow from about 13 inches to 18 inches in the first year. So if I just willy-nilly make hats (I know from experience), the baby will out grow the hat before the right season to wear it comes around. I actually don't know who this hat is going to, it was for a co-worker's friend. I wish I did though so I could see it in action. Cordillia just doesn't do it justice the way a living, male baby could.

Now I am working on a full size blanket with some cuddly Lion Brand Homespun I got for Christmas. It will take a few more skeins than what I got as a gift...about 12 total. I can tell already it is going to be really cozy. 

I think I might want to add in some blue though...it is a little too...purple and green.

Making a Dish and a Dishrag

This is a little uncommon for me to post so soon. But I had a day off, and felt like attempting few feats. Actually, I felt like doing nothing today. I got up to eat breakfast and then went back to sleep. By will power, and some encouragement from Chris to leave the house, I got up and went to The Book Thing. For dinner I made the vegan shepherd's pie I have been planning, following the directions directly from the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World comic book. Technically, it wasn't vegan though; I couldn't find the vegan gravy mix. I bought the onion gravy, but the list of ingredients includes beef.

It turned out pretty good. I think I might make this again. The only thing is, I am not sure if I like soy milk on it's own, so I am questioning what to do with the rest. I don't mind it in coffee or on cereal, because the other favors mask it pretty well, so I guess I will try and use it up like that. Luckily soy milk has a longer shelf life than regular milk, so I have some time...

Basically just cooked veggies for 15 minutes, then added fake meat, gravy mix, and soy milk. All the while, boiling the potatoes... 

Mashed up the potatoes with soy milk, and layered over meat mixture in a casserole dish with a layer of frozen corn in between."Mmm, Mashy"

I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes, which was supposed to crisp up the top. It didn't do that, but I felt it was necessary anyway to make sure the corn defrosted. My only critique is that I definitely needed the salt shaker to eat this, mainly for the potato part. Other than cooking, I made a dishcloth today. This one is for my future mother-in-law. We had lunch the other day and she mentioned that she used to get some from a friend in North Dakota, and I happen to be in between projects. This one was made from a pattern I found on Ravelry, and I used some Lily Sugar 'n Cream 100% cotton yarn which I had in my stash from a project I never finished about a year ago. Since I don't think I will be getting back to that project I may just take out the whole thing and use all the yarn I have of this kind to make a set of 4 or however many I can.

 

Stuff for Boys

So my projects this time are repeats, but I felt the need to blog a little bit anyway. Today I had a day off and finished up a project for Lori, my manager at work, for her son. It is pretty similar to the one I made for Roz, but I made a few changes. The first version was a lighter blue and had all three colors in the braids. This one I made darker with just red braids because it is for a teenager, who probably wouldn't want to wear it if it looked to young. I hope I achieved something that a teenager would wear.

  

I also made another bunny like the one I made for Alisen for Christmas. It is for her brother, Greyson. Apparently he kept taking it and chewing on it, which I am sure Alisen thought was no fair at all. So I made a blue one for him. In hindsight I wish I had made it light blue with dark blue ears and toes, but it can't be helped now and reports are in that he chews on the new one, so it was a success. Because it was made for chewing on by and infant, I replaced the plastic eyes with yarn eyes.

I took a picture of Bucky the cat the other week, which I will post here since I mentioned him in the last post. We have been getting along pretty well, except for his preference for Christopher's company and some extreme early morning meowing.

Also I have a picture of Bailey in the hat I made for her birthday, as seen in my last post. So cute...

I haven't really been crocheting much, if you can tell from how often I post. I have been getting stuff done for school. I was wavering a bit, not sure if I should go back to school. I was just afraid that I would start school, get into a lot of debt and not be able to finish. There is no reason I shouldn't be able to be successful, I am just not too confident in my science skills, and competitive skills and test skills... basically horrified. I am afraid dental hygiene studies might be too far out of my skill set. But I have decided to give it a try. I am glad I did, because after filling out the FAFSA, it turns out that I finally have independent status and my financial aid will be based on my own income! I have been supporting myself for years, and now finally school will be affordable! It almost makes me want to go full time and take french and art classes and just take it all in, but I still have to work and pay bills, so part time it is, for now. Plus I have wedding planning to do. The date is set for June 9th 2012, so I have a little over a year to figure it all out and save up. Maybe I could sell hats as a wedding fundraiser...hmm. That would take a lot of hats. Also with my free time I have been reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" cartoon. Both of which I am now obsessed with. Very different genres, but I love them! I am also planning to make vegan shepherd's pie, using the recipe from the Scott Pilgrim comic book. I have the ingredients, just need to make it happen. Not today...

Owls and Butterflies

Been doing some new patterns by request and have come up with a lot... thus lots of pictures today. Life has been kinda dramatic, which feels better than boredom even though things are worse. Good things are happening too, one being my sister came to visit me in Baltimore with her family. Just for the weekend, to bring me my new kitty, and we made it down to Washington DC to see the monuments and museums. They are moving to Arizona in a few weeks and needed someone to take their cat. His name was Danger, but that sounded a little menacing to me, so I renamed him Bucky, which I believe has the opposite effect. Named after William F. Buckley and Buckminster Fuller. I can't explain it, I barely get the reference myself, they are some authors that Chris reads.
 

 

This is my first attempt of a new pattern, the butterfly hat, and took the opportunity of having my niece's little head around to see how it fits. Soooo adorable.

Made one for myself too, which is one of the only hats I have made for myself.

I have also been working on an owl hat. It seems to be the trend this winter, animal hats. At work I see college kids in the store all the time with hats with ears or horns or eyes. I made a black and gray one first, and tried it on my niece too. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that, it was so cute I had to make a purple one for her birthday present. Her birthday was February 28th, and I am starting to realize I am very bad with deadlines for presents arriving on time. I reconcile it my head like it might be nice getting them late, just when you think there are no more for another year, surprise! Bailey probably won't know the difference though.

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.