flowers, haircuts & amazon overload.

I had a pretty nice weekend. Saturday, I headed home to get my hair cut & colored and to visit my mom & grandma. I also brought along a few of my new knitting books and my crochet stuff, so she could help me figure out what I was doing wrong. so we sat down and she whipped up the bookmark in no time! haha. and I took it home with me to compare to. The rest of the day Saturday, I was attempting to crochet...the bookmark, a flower, anything. I didn't get discouraged, b/c I kept getting better as I went and figuring more things out. but I must have ripped at least 5 different projects.

This continued on Sunday. lol. but I was figuring out more & more (no thanks to the lack of direction on the crochet kit...so maybe I do understand why others were saying it was confusing!) as I went. finally, as I was headed to bed last night, I sat there in the covers and attempted one last attempt (at the flower pattern from the kit), determined I wasn't going to make any mistakes this time. and I got it!!



I apologize for the crudeness of the photo...it's on my camera phone here @ work. I didn't have time to take one last night (nor did I want to..I was sleepy!) or upload it to my computer @ home. so...camera phone! there's still a bit of an extra something-or-another going on with one portion (don't know if you can see from the photo). i'm just happy I've figured out the super secret crochet lingo. lol. there's another flower that's a bit more intricate that I really want to try next. prolly this afternoon. before I do anything I'm actually going to keep, I really need to get some better yarn for the crochet. all I have rigth now is the lame blue acrylic that came with the kit. of course, it's good b/c at least I don't have to waste good yarn on all my practices! but I am ready for something better!

I got my other two books on Saturday...Weekend Knitting & Last-Minute Knitted Gifts!! I have picked out two projects from each book that I want to start on immediately. lol. I wish I had photos, but once again, I do not. I want to make from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, the Floor Cushions (except not in the bright orange-y color) & also the toy bear & rabbit (mostly the bear, b/c I think it's adorable). Weekend Knitting projects: Lap Blanket & Throw Pillow. I don't remember the exact names of all these projects, so I apologize if they're not correct! I'm very excited to get yarn to start these. Oh, and I also found out that one of my LYS has almost all the yarns I need for these! and I am determined to go there sometime this week. also, a local fabric store to find neat lining and also fabric to make my own needle case and knitting tote. busy, busy bee.

but that's not all! last night, I got online and finally ordered Handknit Holidays and the Surf n' Turf yarn, b/c I couldn't take it anymore! lol. I had to have it. I also ordered a book on contemporary Crewel embroidery, which I had seen on bag 'n trash's blog. finally, I thought I was finished with my ordering, when I noticed that Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker was now available! so I snagged it too! :) and here are all of those things I just mentioned (in order of mention):









well that's enough of a post for now, I'd say. Happy Monday!

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is craftster trying to tell me something?

so when I visit craftster, I can click on everything except the "shop" area.. it always gives me an error message. for the last 3 weeks, on various computers and browsers and operating systems.


is it just me? I would love some input!

yay for Friday!

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crochet...mission:possible

I received my books last night & sufficiently drooled over all the projects I want to start! I must have marked at least 20 or more projects I want to make. lol. this is getting addicting like nobody's business.

the one thing I did start on, however, was my crocheting skills from the Cozy Crochet Kit. I wanted to try out crochet since I never had and see if I could get a grasp on it. ...and I did! granted, I'm a bit stumped currently, but all in all...I can crochet! I don't know why ppl said this kit was so confusing. I will say it could use a bit better description of things and the patterns are nowhere near as expertly detailed as Kris Perceival's in Knit Knack kit, but nonetheless. I can crochet! haha. i was very excited. I just used the bookmark pattern (even though it's my least favorite!) b/c the yarn for it was included and it was the beginner project. i'm pretty proud of my skills on this.

counterpane carpet bag


counterpane accessories pouch


I haven't even gotten to tackle any of these projects until I got a major desire to start on a project from Handknit Holidays (which i do not have, but desperately want!). I was browsing Good to Be Girl's blog and saw her "when crap yarn finds it's calling" entry where she used TLC Essentials Surf 'n Turf for the Counterpane Carpet Bag. and I love the way the colors look with the pattern! and my apt. is all of those colors! haha. so...I then went on a search for a photo of this bag and how many skeins I would need. I found all that info here. but once I saw it and how long it is...I'm not sure it would look right for me. however, I did find the Counterpane Accessories Pouch and this shall be what I use the yarn on. same neat pattern, much less yarn, much smaller purse. now, I love my giant purses, just don't think the Carpet bag one is for me. this is to say...it will be a future project of mine, seeing as how I have neither the yarn nor the book (nor probably the skills) just yet.

that's all for now! looking forward to reading more of my books tonight!

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magazines!

lol. so I just subscribed to both Vogue & Interweave! :) ah! Interweave said it would mail on March 16th. Vogue said it would be 4-6 weeks. I'm hoping more on the 4 side!

oh and I also found out that 4 of my books came in today! aaron checked the mail & got them for me this afternoon. :) I'm so excited to get inspired. ah, if only I had all the money in the world... lol.

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knitting books!

my books should be coming in today (well 4 of the 6 of them)! :) I can't wait to get them.

aaron went out to wal-mart on saturday to pick up a few groceries...and came home with a mini knitting magazine he saw while there! how cute was that? there are at least 3 things from the magazine I want to knit. however, I have to say the instructions are minimal at best. lol. hopefully they are correct!

that's about all the knitting news for now. I'm forever making progress on my change purses. I will knit them until I run out of thread! next color...wool-ease worsted weight red/maroon.

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lys (local yarn shops!)

so I have found at least three local yarn shops in or around nashville that I'm very excited about. one, in particular, I am wanting to go to sometime next week, once I get my tax refund. I need tons of needles, a needle case, stitch holders, yarn, etc. I'm hoping to stock up, but I'm also hoping to go in with a plan of what to buy, so I don't just go haywire. oh and this place also has handmade buttons! I'm totally getting some of those.

first, I need to sit down & figure out what projects I want to tackle next and go from there. I've finished my 3rd change purse now and am working on my 4th. I can see my knitting getting better with each one. As you can tell from the photos, I'm definitely in the beginning stages. but I think now I'm really getting the feel for it. I was typically, holding the yarn way too tightly at first and so, the first change purse (as pictured below in the last post) is pretty much gonna be my practice one. seeing my latest results, it simply looks too small and too all over the place to actually use! also, i am still casting off (binding off...which is the correct term?) too tightly. as you can also see in the photos from the last post. haha. I'm definitely conscious of it, so I'm assuming that will ease up even more the more I knit.

I can't wait to get my knitting books I ordered last week! I ordered the Cozy Crochet Kit, Weekend Knitting, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, Stitch 'n Bitch, Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, & Felted Knits. woohoo! they're all supposed to be here by mid-week next week. i'm so excited!!

well, I will update more about my LYS once I visit it...wish me luck! :)

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project photos

here is the current state of the change purses:
(i still have to cut out lining, stitch up the sides, add lining & then add button & other embellishments)


and here is the practice slipper:
(will not ever actually be worn. lol. just testing out some different stitches!)


I threw away the tags (cause I'm a noob), but the change purse yarn is a Wool-Ease worsted weight yarn in a light tan. the slipper yarn is a Lion Brand bulky yarn in a light blue speckle color (i realize this is not the name...as I said, i threw away the tags...doh!).

so there ya go! :)

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the first stitches..

well, I began my first knitted project last winter (january). it was a simple scarf, garter stitch, two yarns. well, i got bored with it and never finished. haha. it's actually still on the needles in my knitting box right now. anyway, so after that disappointment, I laid off for a while.

this past Christmas, my boyfriend (aaron) and his mom got the Knit Knack kit by Kris Percival for me @ Costco. lol. it was the best present ever! it got me itching to knit again and gave me so many great ideas. the first two things I started on were the Change Purse and Slippers. I knew with it being a while, I needed practice, so that's why I started with those. the Change Purse, as expected, knit up in about 20 mins, if even. immediately after finishing that, I went for the Slippers. they took a little longer but i did finish the first one last week, finally. I experimented a lot on it, so I knew I wasn't going to actually use it once it was finished. it was more for practice. I think i want to add the flaps on it to make it the Elfin Slipper.

however, I have now finished two new Change Purse's...although I doubled the stitches on the pattern to make it like a normal sized coin purse (the pattern's one is tee tiny!). I also want to branch out & make them into clutch's next. I am going to buy lining soon for the inside and then get started on embellishing them.

I am picking up my new digital camera this afternoon, so I hope to have photos of my progress thus far soon! :)

that's all for this first entry....hope someone enjoyed it! lol. I'll add more to my page as I get going. but right now I'm @ work and can't do too much!

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