The Halfway Point

Today, I am half way through my month-long journey. So, I think a little celebrating is in order! The above picture is one of my favorite things at Disneyland. The Soundsational parade is pretty great. But my favorite part is the very beginning. There is a drum line and Mickey Mouse is playing the drums. I love it. I still haven't figured out why they chose to start the parade with it, though. To me, it would make a much better ending. I included it on this post because I was flipping through my pictures on my phone and it jumped out at me because it was so bright and cheerful. Happy memories are a fun way to celebrate. Plus, I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow for my birthday trip. So, it's helping me get in the mood to wake up way earlier than normal.

State of the Goals:
Goal 1: Complete BEDA.
Well, I'm half way there! I have been able to post something every day, even when I was in LA with no wifi. I'm pretty proud of that one.

Goal 2: Knit/Crochet two projects I am proud of.
I finished one already, so I guess I'm halfway there on this one, too! The Capitals-inspired Slapshot Baby hat is cute. And I saw a picture of the baby in it today and she looks pretty adorable in it. (Though, I was right, it is a bit too small. Sigh.)

Goal 3: The Piles:
I have almost finished re-reading Twilight. So, that's one from the already-started-reading pile. I read a book that wasn't in either pile, so that technically doesn't count, but it did add to my books-read count, so it's good. Also, I started reading A Discovery of Witches. I'm hoping to have enough time to get it finished. I have some upheaval going on in my personal life, so this goal might be a little harder to reach than anticipated.

Goal 4: 30-Day Walk Challenge
This goal is a big fat fail. My knee was hurting for much longer than the one day. I am pretty sure a doctor's visit is essential at this point. Sad to miss out on this goal. Especially because I really need to get training for the Disneyland 10K that's coming up!

BEDA Tracker:

4/1/15    4/6/15   4/11/15   4/16/15   4/21/15   4/26/15

4/2/15    4/7/15   4/12/15   4/17/15   4/22/15   4/27/15

4/3/15    4/8/15   4/13/15   4/18/15   4/23/15   4/28/15

4/4/15    4/9/15   4/14/15   4/19/15   4/24/15   4/29/15

4/5/15   4/10/15  4/15/15   4/20/15   4/25/15   4/30/15

Slapshot Baby Hat

I finished a project that I think is pretty cute. It's for the baby of a friend who is a major Washington Capitals fan. (Hopefully it will be big enough! I've never actually met the baby.) I used the Penguin hat pattern from Repeat Crafter Me, but changed some of the embellishments. I really loathe making pompons, and I didn't want to have to find buttons to match the color scheme, so I crocheted the eyes. It's supposed to be an eagle, not a penguin, but as it's for a baby, I hope they don't really notice.

Speaking of birds, I'm watching the Padres game at Dodger stadium and I keep hearing really loud bird calls. I'm not sure if Dodger stadium has resident birds, or if Dodger fans have really annoying bird whistles. LA is a weird place.

BEDA Tracker:

4/1/15   4/6/15

4/2/15   4/7/15

4/3/15

4/4/15

4/5/15

BEDA

April Fool's Day is a strange day where I spend most of the day (and the days surrounding it!) not believing anything I see or hear. But, my favorite part of this day is that it's the beginning of my favorite month.

BEDA means Blog Every Day in April. And, this afternoon I decided I was going to participate. So, here I am, with no preparation, writing a blog with an hour left in the first day. Seems like a good plan.

As this is the beginning of the challenge, I suppose it is appropriate to post my goals for the month. For some reason, they seem to be lofty and plentiful.

Goal 1 - Complete BEDA. I used to LiveJournal (that's right, LJ was my jam back in the day), so completing BEDA shouldn't be too hard...right?

Goal 2 - Knit and/or Crochet at least two projects that I actually care about. I've been in a bit of a slump lately, so this goal may be harder than it would have been in the past.

Goal 3 - The Piles.

These are The Piles. The one on the left is the pile of books I have started reading (or re-reading), but haven't finished. The one on the right is the pile of books I bought, but haven't read yet. Okay, technically that's just a couple of the books I own but haven't read yet. My big goal is to read them all, but for April, I'm just looking to finish one from each pile.

Goal 4 - I also decided today that I was going to participate in a 30-day Walk challenge. I figured it would be helpful because I'm training for a runDisney 10K. I did 2 miles tonight, so I'm on my way on that one.

So, those are my goals. And, it's almost midnight, so I need to get this posted.

BEDA Tracker:

4/1/15

The Eighth Doctor

I did a Swap with my Nerd Wars team, and the person I got to make something for loves The Eighth Doctor from Doctor Who.

So I made this:

Nerd Wars

For the past couple months, I've been in a competition on Ravelry, called Nerd Wars. It's tons of fun, but takes up a lot of my time. The competition basics: 3 month-long competitions with 5 projects each. You can knit, crochet, spin, or weave. While it's been challenging and time-consuming, I've discovered it is a great way to finish projects and meet new people. Here are some of the projects I've completed!

Tea Cozy for my Aunt

Baby Hat

Diamond Scarf

Jayne Cobb Hat Tea Cozy

My first ever Lace Shawl

Basket Weave Stitch Dishcloth

Waffle Stitch Scarf

The Wrong Side of the Scarf is Pretty

How to Crochet Hearts

Stitches from the Heart, one of the charities I work with, gives out heart pins when they go to fairs and art shows. This is how to make those pins.

I modified the Big Tiny Heart pattern I found on the Julie-K website.

The first thing you'll need to know how to do is make a magic loop. Planet June has a great tutorial for this. It's technically not necessary to use the magic loop method. You could use a basic chain 4, join w/slip stitch to first chain. But it is much easier at the end, if you used a magic loop. If the Planet June page doesn't help enough, Bernat has a YouTube demonstration here.

Little Crochet Hearts Pattern:
Yarn: Whatever scraps you have laying around. Really. Any yarn will do.
Hook: I tend to use a hook 1 size bigger than the yarn calls for, but I crochet tightly.
Gauge not important for this project.

Stitch:
HDC: Half-Double Crochet
SLST: Slip Stitch

Start with a Magic Loop
Chain 2
8 HDC into loop
Join with SLST to the first HDC
5 HDC in the next HDC
HDC in the next 2 HDC
(HDC, chain 2, HDC) in the next HDC
HDC in the next 2 HDC
5 HDC in the next HDC
SLST into original chain, fasten off

Tug on the end from the center of the magic loop to tighten the circle. Pull the outside end downward. Double knot the two ends together tightly to shape the heart. Leave the ends long enough to tie another knot around the pin backing for stability.

I get my pin backs from Michaels and JoAnn. I open them to tie the ends to it while gluing. I use tacky glue, but hot glue also works. Once I've tied and glued the pins to the back, I cut the ends of the yarn so that it won't be visible when worn.

Crocheted Afghans

Lukey's Afghan

Lion Brand Yarn's Marble Baby Throw pattern has been my go-to pattern for quick gift items. I really like that it is quick and easy, like granny squares are, but doesn't require any piecing together. So, I've made quite a few at this point.

Ava's Afghan

Carnival Throw

Another pattern I like to use is Lion Brand Yarn's Carson City Afghan, though the pattern is a lot small for my liking, so I generally double or triple it.

Jair's Baby Blanket

Grandma's Afghan

Mom & Dad's Afghan

I've been slow to update my blog, but busy with my hooks and needles. The captions are all links to my Ravelry pages for each, if you're interested in the yarn or patterns I used.

Success and Failure

My Ravellenic Games Team Ravatar

Official Ravthlete Ravatar

My official Scarf Hockey Medal!

The 2012 Ravellenic Games are over. I completed one project and received a lovely badge for it. Success!

 

 

 

 

Rose Tyler BoomTown Scarf

Unfortunately, I did not complete my other event(s). Most specifically, I did not finish Tinker Bell. She's still technically not finished. The pattern was just too confusing, leading me to have to frog a couple pieces, then start them over. Tinker Bell is still not finished, but I'm hoping to power through and get it done this weekend.

Tinker Bell's Current Condition. Boo.

So, I didn't get everything I intended to done for the Ravellenic Games, but I learned a lot about knitting. Specifically yarn overs, decreasing, and that ribbing in the throw(?) method is painful for a girl with tendinitis. Because of that, I'm thinking I may have to switch back to Continental. I'm almost a week out from the contest and my arms are still hurting.

Jackson's Afghan

Picture courtesy of  www.bnd-photography.com

A couple months ago I made an afghan for my cousins' baby. He's finally here to see it, and in one of his newborn photography sessions, he showed it off. (Well, it showed him off.) I thought it was very cool to see something I made in a professional photograph. And my newest first-cousin-once-removed is pretty cool too.

The afghan is based on Lion Brand's free pattern for Marble Baby Throw. Instead of switching colors for stripes, I held three yarns together. For yarn and pattern information, check out my Ravelry project page here.

Ravellenic Games Update

Nothing is finished yet. And now I've run into some pretty major tendinitis pain, not unexpected, though I didn't really foresee just how much of my arm would be in pain due to knitting. I'm using the throw (?) method, which may or may not be called English. At any rate, I think going forward I'm going to have to re-train myself to use Continental because there is less movement, which would be key for me.

The Tinker Bell pattern has been kicking my ass. Not because it's hard, but because I don't understand half of it. I'm fairly certain it was translated from another language and there are quite a few places that I literally have no idea what they are asking for. I've googled and everything.

Ravellenic Games 2012

Rose Tyler's BoomTown Scarf (modified)

TinkerBell's head

The Ravellenic Games have begun! Ravelry, a site for yarn-enthusiasts, hosts a competition every two years (during the two weeks of the Olympics). People all over the world join teams and get to crocheting, knitting, weaving, and other yarn-related events.

There are different sport-themed events. I'm participating in Scarf Hockey, Toy Toss, and Holiday Hurdles.

I'm on two teams, Team TARDIS and Team Disney.
For Scarf Hockey I'm making the Rose Tyler scarf from BoomTown (Doctor Who).
For Toy Toss I'm making an amigurumi TinkerBell.
And for Holiday Hurdles I'm making some TARDIS ornaments...if I can finish the other two projects first. :)

The Queue

Free Lion Brand Pattern: Marble Baby Throw

I have so many projects in queue right now. And a lot of them are things I have started but not finished. This is the baby throw I'm working on. I'm using Lion Brand Jamie yarn, as that's the yarn used in the pattern, though I'm pretty sure if I make it again I'll go for a softer yarn selection. The colors of the yarn are fantastic though. It's hard to tell in this picture, but it a gorgeous combination.

I'm not currently sure who this is for, and I may end up keeping it for myself since I've not kept any of my blankets so far.

2012 Pay It Forward

The Pay it Forwards are complete! Now I just have to finish making my cards to attach to them and get them mailed/delivered.

 

To give some size perspective, they fit pretty perfectly in a gallon-sized storage bag.

Tic Tac Toe: Spring Edition

For my second Pay It Forward gift, I made the same Tic Tac Toe board, but because I hated making the X's I needed a new theme. The flowers and butterflies make it very springlike and I absolutely LOVE the color combination for this one. It's just gorgeous.

 

A closeup of the flower applique piece

 

A closeup of the butterfly applique piece

Details: The board: Ch 35, sc in second ch from hook and each chain across. Ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across. Repeat until the board is approximately 10" x 10". Using contrasting color, evenly stitch lines to make the squares. Join two stitches from a corner, sc across to corner, sc 3 in corner sc, repeat for each side, joining with a slst to first sc. Pattern for flower applique is here. Pattern for butterfly applique is here.

Tic Tac Toe

Here is the first of my Pay It Forward projects to be completed. Tic Tac Toe! I got the idea from a Lion Brand pattern, but it seemed so complicated and there was so much sewing involved I got nervous. I looked on Ravelry at some of the other people who had modified and went with an idea they had given me. In the end, it's all improvised by me. The "board" is approximately 10" x 10". I'm not satisfied with the X pattern, so for the next project I plan to change it.

Super Secret Gift One

This is the beginning of the first of the five Pay-It-Forward gifts. This is also an example of single crochet, in case you were wondering.

Washcloth Bunnies

I needed a last minute baby shower gift and luckily I remembered I had made a washcloth with some super plush yarn. So I grabbed some Lily Sugar and Cream in Faded Denim and made a companion washcloth. Then I folded/rolled them into bunny shapes and tied them with ribbons. The pattern and directions for bunny shaping can be found here.