FO Friday!

This month I didn't post a single FO because I didn't finish anything until the last 3 days and I didn't realize that I hadn't shared my finished Christmas gifts! So today I'l share those and next week I'll share what projects I've finished this month!

I made this cell phone case for my brother's girlfriend. Very quick and easy to make.

This cute unicorn was made for my niece. She loves it!

My brother loves video games and one of his favorite characters is Yoshi so I made him this one. I think it turned out nice. I'm not too happy with the feet but I guess its not too bad.

I also released a new pattern and this was officially the last project I finished last year!

I still haven't taken pictures of two projects I finished last year but as soon as I do I'll share them.

If you would like to share your FO's or check out what others finished up this week check out Tami's Blog! 

Remember to come back for WIP Wednesday!

Wip Wednesday: Making Progress!

Last Wednesday I shared all the wips that I had already and my goal is to work on them and finish most of them within the next month. I actually feel like I'm a bit closer to my goal, well not really but I'm making progress!

The List

Commissioned Greyhound

Brother's Scarf

Penelope's Blanket

Crochet Hook Case

Star

White Shawl

Purple Shawl

Baby Bib

Rainbow Monkey

Moose

Fox

No Rush Projects:

Tiny Owls

Stash Busting Blanket

Parasol Scarf

Entrelac Blanket

With only 3 days left in this month, I'm hoping to have at least some finished. The greyhound, star, monkey, and baby bib are almost finished so I'm going to work on finishing those first. 

Here is what I worked on this past week:

The greyhound is almost done! The body is finished and I'm currently working on the head. I think he is turning out pretty good. 

I finished making all the pockets of my crochet hook case. All that is left is the outside cover and I'm done. I haven't decided on the color or pattern yet so I'm setting this one aside temporarily while I work on some other projects on the list. 

I also worked on my brother's scarf, the entrelac blanket, and the stash busting blanket but didn't take pictures since you can't really notice the difference anyway.

Oh, and I got some new items for future projects!

First I got a new book: Modern Baby Crochet by Stacey Trock. There are several projects I can't wait to get started on but I've decided to wait until I finish some projects I already have.

My dad got me this Afghan Loom last week. He wanted to get it for Christmas but they ran out at the store. They finally had them back in stock and I got it. I know I want to make an afghan but I don't want to get the yarn just yet as I have no room for the amount of yarn it would take to make an afghan so that project is on hold for now. 

Over the weekend I finally got a chance to go to the AC Moore closes to me which is out of town and I got the Denise Interchangeable Crochet Hook Set. I've been wanting these for a long time and almost bought them online but when I found out they sold them at the store I decided to wait and use a coupon so I saved half off. I want to work on my Tunisian Crochet so these will be perfect!

Last but not least got this I-cord machine. I have an idea that I got from watching a craftsy class that involves i-cord but I'm too lazy to make it without this machine so I went ahead and got it. I'll share more details on the project once I get to it. :)

That's it for me today! What are you all working on? 

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments! Remember to check out FO Friday!

Wip Wednesday: Super-sized!

Over the weekend I did some organizing and today I will share all the WIP's I have that I want to finish for sure.

Knitting WIP's

Scarves

I'm still trying to finish my brother's Christmas gift!! I know its bad that we are more than half way though January and its still not finished but my goal is to finish it before the end of the month.

Of course being the crazy person that I am. I started another project on the 1st day of the year, worked on it a little and haven't touched it since. Its another scarf using Candy Skein Juicy Sport. I've been wanting to try this yarn since it came out and finally got some in the colorway Watermelon. I love the color! The stitch I am using is called Parasol and its available in the book The Complete Photo Guide to Knitting. I used 2 repeates for my scarf. I'm not really in a rush to finish it but since its going to be pretty small I'm thinking maybe by the end of February.

Shawls

I have 2 shawls to finish, both I started back in September. When I started planning my trip to Paris I kind of had my mind occupied on other things so I never got around to finishing them. After the trip I had to work on my new patterns and Christmas gift so I didn't have time. But now I definitely want to finish them, especially since they are both more than 75% done. 

Baby Bib

In October I started this ghost bib and almost finished it. All I have left are the I-cords which I know I can finish in a short time but of course I-cords are not my favorite which is why its still not finished. 

Crochet WIP's

Blankets

I have 3 blankets to finish. The first is a baby blanket my mom asked me to make for my niece. I only have about 6 rounds left but I haven't found the time to finish it. I've already promised my mom I'll finish it asap so its next on the list after my brother's scarf.

The other two are Tunisian Crochet. This one below is Entrelac Tunisian Crochet. I already had one using these same colors that I started a while ago but I frogged that and decided to add the white. I would say I'm getting close to half way done. I'm not going to set a date to try to finish this one, instead my plan is to work at least one row every week until its finished. 

The third blanket I started last week. I know again I probably shouldn't have but I'm planning on this being an ongoing project throughout the year. Its a stash busting project using this pattern. Its free and really simple. The short color changes I am going on mine have kept it interesting. The reason I started this project was because one of my goals from last year (that is also a goal this year) is to use up all my Caron Simply Soft Yarn. I have enough colors to make a blanket. I'm not sure how big it will be but I guess I'll keep going until its finished. 

Crochet Hook Case

Yes I finally started on my crochet hook case. Its going to be a lot bigger than the pattern which only holds 10 hooks. Mine will hold 24 hooks. I'm using Hobby Lobby I love this Cotton. 

Amigurumi

I have a lot of work to get done in this section which is really no surprise.

First I am working on finishing a Greyhound that a friend ordered in December. I'm almost finished with the body.

I started a colorful Star using this free pattern. I'm using Caron Simply Soft and changed colors ever 4 rounds. Only have the back to finish.

A moose head is still waiting for a body, a monkey needs a body and I still need to crochet pieces for a fox.

In this bin I have parts for 23 tiny owls, 2 lady bugs, and a tiny pig! 

Those are all the wips I need to finish as of right now. I still have several projects I'm undecided about so the list could always get longer!

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments! Remember to check out FO Friday!

Craft Room Organization 2014: Day 1

Its a New Year and its time to get organized! Last year I followed the Webs Yarn Store Blog: 31 days to get Organized posts. Here is a link to my wrap-up post!

It really helped to follow all the blog post last year so this year I'll be doing something similar but more personalized to what I need to do.

DAY 1

Clean my craft room! 

Friday night I was in my craft room and got to work. My room was a complete mess there was no walking space and my desks were full of projects. I was actually surprised I managed to finish it in a couple hours. Here are a couple of things I did:

1. Organize UFO's into piles: Will finish, Undecided, and Frog.

This surprisingly didn't take too long. If you want to see the list of projects I will be finishing check out my Super-sized Wip Wednesday post! For now here is pic of a box of undecided projects. Most are almost done but I can't decided whether I really want to finish them or not. 

2. Put back yarn that I am no longer using. 

I really should be doing this every time I finish a project but it never happens. 

3. Place all yarn that I need to wind up again in a separate bin. 

I had some yarn scraps to re-wind and yarn from projects I already frogged. There are still a couple bigger projects I need to frog. I think I will do a frog and re-wind day this weekend. 

4. Organize yarn.

I organized my yarn by brand. I have 2 bins with my Hobby Lobby I love this Yarn, 2 bins with Berroco Vintage, 2 bins with KnitPicks Yarn (Comfy, Shine, Brava, & Swish), 2 bins with Cascade (Heritage & 220 Superwash), 6 bins with Bernat (mostly Softee Baby), 1 bin with cotton yarn ( Hobby Lobby I love this cotton and Sugar n' Cream), and 2 bins with miscellaneous acrylic yarn. 

I'm really satisfied with the work I've done so far. Next Monday I will be flashing my stash and more!

Swatch Sunday x3: Basic, Knotted, & Serpentine

I thought I had scheduled this post but turns out I didn't!
These last 2 weeks have gone by so fast I lose track of the days. SO this post will be for the first 3 Sundays of the year.

To start off Swatch Sundays I decided to try out knitting cables. I'm currently enrolled in the Craftsy Class Explorations in Cables. I'm really enjoying the class. The teacher is really thorough with her explanations. I thought about doing the swatches for the class but opted for stitches in my book The Complete Photo Guide to Knitting.

Swatch 1:Basic Cable

Stitchionary: The Complete Photo Guide To Knitting

Cast on 33. I did a Right slanting and left slanting on one swatch. I added 3 stitches of stockinette to the each side and middle. Like the name states its very basic but it was good practice especially since I'm not used to the cable needle just yet. 

Swatch 2:Knotted Cable

Stitchionary: The Complete Photo Guide To Knitting

Cast on 32. For this one I decided to also add stockinette to the middle and sides. This time 4 stitches instead of 3. I love the look of this one and it was definitely harder than the first since you are working with 6 stitches some going to the back and others to the front in order to get the knotted look.

Swatch 3:Simple Serpentine 

Stitchionary: The Complete Photo Guide To Knitting

Cast on 32. I also added  4 stitches of stockinette to the middle and sides for this one. This one was confusing at first trying to make sure I was going either back or forward and the right time.

Well that's it for this week. I promise to be on time for the next one and it will probably be a cable too!

Swatch Sundays!

Welcome to Swatch Sundays!

I love looking through stitchionaries and before I discovered all the great patterns available online I only used stitch dictionaries for my projects. I was into making baby blankets and dreamed of making one in all the stitches I had available. Of course that never happened. This year I would like to at least test as many different stitches as I can so I decided I would do swatches of my favorite stitches. I've been wanting to practice cables for some time now and recently purchased a class on craftsy to help so this would be a perfect way to try out the different cables without going into a project. 

Supplies

I went shopping today for a couple things I needed. One thing I needed to get was some wool yarn. Since I want to be able to block the swatches easily I decided it would be the best yarn to use. I'm using Patons Classic Wool Worsted that is 100% wool. I only got one ball today to try it out but what I like is whenever I run out I can just go to my local store and pick some up so I don't have to wait and I can use a coupon. 

Some of the main stitches I can to test out are cables so I picked these up too. 

Of course I will need knitting needles, which I already have. And finally, I will need stitchionaries. I don't have a lot but I think these 5 are enough to keep me busy for the year. 

The plan is I will take time every Saturday to work up a new stitch and block it. Then on Swatch Sundays I will share it with you all. Since I just planned to do this yesterday I don't have a swatch to share today so I will have 2 next Sunday!

Join Me!

If this sounds like something you are interested in you are welcome to join in. Leave a comment below with a link to your Swatch Sunday post!

New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This year I have several goals but I only decided to share a few in my last post. One I didn't mention was I want to try blogging more. When I first started WIP Wednesday and FO Friday it really helped keep me on track but the last half of last year I was really disorganized. This year I want to get back to at least blogging twice a week if not more. 

For this year's first Wip Wednesday I have a couple of unfinished projects from last year that I want to finish. The main project I am working on that I started on Christmas Eve is an army of Tiny Owls! My goal is to make one is every color I have available in Hobby Lobby I love this Yarn. So far I have heads and bodies for 21 of them. I'm thinking I'll probably end up with about 30. After finishing all the heads and bodies I will start with all the smaller pieces like ears, wings, feet, and eyes. 

I still have to finish one of my brother's Christmas gifts. He already saw it and doesn't mind getting it late. Its not that cold here yet so he doesn't really need it so I'm hoping to finish it within 2 weeks. I have a lot more done that the picture shows but I haven't taken a more recent picture.

Each month I'll probably have a different goal and this month I have 2. The first is to finish up all the projects I started last year. The second is to get organized. As of now my craft room is really unorganized so I'm thinking I'll buy a couple more storage bins and make it a monthly project to get it nice and neat again.

Share what you're working on and remember to come back for FO Friday!