Been a while

Oops I have been neglecting my blog!!!! I have been busy trying to get toys done for the many children in my life for Christmas presents. I think I am all done, I guess I will find out on Saturday, that is my last holiday party. I need to takes more pics of my latest projects, hopefully I will do that soon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and Have a wonderful New Year.

It's a bird, It's a plane . . .

It's SUPERMAN!!!! I made this for one of my best friends. He LOVES Superman. I took this pattern and just changed it from a girl to boy, and substituted colors as needed. I made the cap and chest shield on my sewing machine. He was so much fun to make, and he turned out so cute, that I want to keep him! I will have to make another one! Enjoy!
Superman sitting in my computer chair

Standing:

Face detail:

Backside and cape:

Chest Shield detail:

Another one tested!!!!

I have been very bored lately, but that is ok because it means I get to crochet a lot!!!!
I tested another pattern for Stormy. She is soo talented and her creations are adorable!!!!
I am proud to present (drumroll please) Lipstick Spike!!!!! she is sooo cute!!!

My recent projects

So I am still off of work, but have been using my time to get a few projects done. First I worked up this cute bag for a Christmas present for my Aunt. I got the pattern from one of the ladies at Crochetville. It is called Waves of Color Tote. It worked up super quick and turned out great!

This is a close up to try to better show the colors. My camera did not do a good job of capturing the colors very well.


And I have joined the Fat Bottom Bag craze!! This is a pattern from Stitch 'N Bitch: Happy Hooker.
First one: Pink camo:

lining:


Second one is Grey and pink variegated:

Lining:


I got to break in my bamboo hook on the grey/pink one. I used a bigger hook, and added rows. I took a pic to show the size difference between the two. The camo one is done as the pattern stated.


That is it for right now, I am sure I will have more to post soon!

Fabulous Day!!!!!

So yesterday started out crappy. I am once again on temporary lay off. But it ended up awesome!!!!

First off, I participated in yet another exchange (I am addicted!!!). This time with Minibooger from Crochet for Life. I had a blast making and putting together this package for her. It was a Halloween/Autumn exchange.

Mine first: I made her a cute little purse/bag in Beautiful wine county fall colors. I also made her a cute little alien brain sucker/octopus, and I included a couple goodies along with the package.


Now, what she sent me. I was amazed at how much she shoved into this box! I was TOTALLY spoiled. She was an awesome partner, and I feel bad that I did not send her more. She made me this awesome black Halloween bag with a spider web and spider on it, and pirate skull lining! She also sent: The movie Darkcity, some very cute decorations (a witch sign, spiders, a cat and sparkly bat) an assortment of tea (yummy) coca, candy, TONS of pattern sheets, the latest issue of Crochet Today! (which has an article about Regina from Monster Crochet in it, and a gift card!!! I could not believe she spoiled me SO much!!!






And finally. Apparently I had bitched about this book long enough that my hubby agreed to let me go and buy it. I am over the moon!!!!!

Another update . . .

So I get to go back to work today. I am so sick of this yo-yo crap. I am looking into any other option, but right now MI is so unstable. I went onto a local job search site, and there are 16,500 without jobs, and only 550 jobs posted. How sad is that!!!

Anyways, I have gotten some crocheting in. I have to take pics of my latest projects, I will get around to it soon.

Update

So the good news first. My wonderful daddy has come to the rescue! He dropped by to inspect my dryer, and thankfully it was just a bad breaker. An inexpensive fix. My dryer is now running perfectly!

and the bad news. I am once again laid off. I wish my job was more stable. I hate wondering from day to day if I am going to be going to work or not. Unfortunately there is not much else out there, especially since I have worked at the same place for over 8 years. Any entry level position would not pay me what I am making now. My options are dwindling very quickly. ::sigh:: All I can do is keep going forward, and look for any opportunity I can, I suppose.

Yeah life!!!

So my life has been quite interesting lately. On Monday, out dryer literally went up in smoke. It was not fun, but thank goodness it did not start on fire. So we found a used dryer that is only 2 years old and in great condition. So we get it home last night and hooked up and I test it out. Works great, for the first 2 loads. Now for some reason it will not dry!!!! So I looked on line to try to trouble-shoot the problem, and it could be any of 7 things!!! We do not have the money to call a repair man, and neither of us are technical enough in dryers to fix it ourselves. I have no clue what we are going to do. The little we had saved up is now sitting in our laundry room broken! Well if we figure it out, I will let you know!

Some of the things keeping me busy

I have been impressed that I am still finding time to crochet!
First, from the very talented Regina at Monster Crochet, my Crabius Minimus (well I suppose he would be the maximum). I like how he turned out, but I really had to push myself at the end to get his legs finished. I will be setting this pattern aside for a while. I used an f hook and baby bernat coordinates in bonbon blue. For size reference, that is a 2 liter soda bottle next to him.




I also tested a couple of patterns:
First, a very cute lil' pretties cat from Stormyz crochet:



Next, I tested a Brain sucker! This one was for Nutsaboutcrochet. He turned out very cute, although he is hogging the computer!



And finally, it was my best friend's birthday a couple weeks ago, and she is a pirate freak! I got a pattern for a pirate panda a while ago from Amy Gaine's etsy shop I thought she would be perfect for my buddies birthday!

She is complete with removable patch and hat:

and finally the long awaited . . .

Exchange post!!! Sorry I have been neglecting my blog lately. Having 2 kids under 3 is interesting to say the least!

So Back in august I was involved in Crochet Depot's Harry Potter scarf exchange!! I was lucky enough to once again get my new friend Andy! He was so generous, and spoiled me greatly!!
First I will show part of what I sent him. We all took a survey and were assigned one of the 4 houses of Hogwart's. Andy is a Ravenclaw, and I am a Gryffindor. I used the scarf design from the 3rd year movie as my guide

I also made him a snitch!

I included some beautiful fat quarters in, at least what I thought, where wizardy prints. 3 of them looked like stars and sparkles, and one was very swirly. Of course I forgot to take pictures!

Now, for my package!!! I got spoiled!!!

First my Gryffindor scarf!

This BEAUTIFUL yarn!!!

2 awesome books (which I had been eying the pooh book on ebay for months!)

and a pattern for a very cute purse.

I was very happy to participate in another awesome exchange!

Andy also sent me this gorgeous baby blanket for my new little bundle!

Jimbo Contest

Jimbo is once again holding a hook contest. And he has the perfect idea for a new holiday. You can get all the details on his website: Jimbo's

MONSTER PURSE!!!!!!

So I really should be posting pics of my recent swap, but I am very excited because I just finished my Monster Purse!!! I LOVE how this turned out, and am very tempted to use this as my everyday purse. I love the colors, it reminds me of the muppet monsters. I got the idea from this post on Craftster. So without further delay:

Here is a pic of the lining, I found this super cute pirate skull print at JoAnn's:

Here is a close up of the colors:


Here is the pattern I made for my version. This is a very open-ended pattern with limit-less possibilities.

L hook
6 - 8 balls of novelty (I used Bernat Boa)
1 skein of acrylic (I used Red Heart super saver)
Felt, fabric, or other embellishments

beginning ch 2 counts as first stitch (you can use ch 3 also)
You are working your ch as height, and building up width with additional rows
Hold all 3 strands together as you work

ch 82
row 1 - dc in third ch from hook, and in each ch across (80)ch 2 and turn
row 2 - dc in each st across (80)
Repeat row 2 until you get the desired width.

I worked mine 32 inches in height, and appox. 12 inches in width.

this is how I folded my bag:

sew sides of bag together and add eyes, teeth etc.
I used my sewing machine to put on the teeth, eyes, handle, and lining.
Feel free to add any extras you can think of. multiple eyes, cyclops, hair bows, etc. Like I said this is a very open pattern.

I really hope this pattern is not too scatter-brained! It is getting quite late, and I am tired! If you have any problems, leave me a message!

Sorry, I am slow . . .

So thankfully I am not still preggo!!! I had my newest addition on August 15 @ 5:02am, he entered the world at a nice 7 lbs 2 ozs, 20.5 inches long. Except for a slight scare because he had a knot in his cord, everything went great and both of us are doing wonderful. Big brother is a punk and is mad he has to share momma now, but he is adjusting.

In other aspects of my life, I participated in another swap with the Depot, but that is going to have to wait for my next post.

Still here

So I am still very preggo! I was hoping this little monster would have been as nice as his brother and come a little early, but it is not looking that way :( Oh well, I guess he is really comfortable, which with the heat wave we are having, I do not blame him at all! As you can see by my ticker a few posts down, I am 38 1/2 weeks. I have now decided that I was waaaayyyy to spoiled with my first little man. I went to my 38 week appointment, and was feeling great, no contractions, nothing. Then I woke up the next day in labor, and had him that night. This one, I have had irregular mild contractions on and off for the last couple days, and everyday I feel worse. More heavy and ready to go! And he has not decided to come earlier. Oh well, not much I can do about it but sit here and wait until my body decides it is time to go! I can not wait until he gets here. I am very anxious to meet him and see if he looks like his brother when he was born or not. My back and my bladder also can not wait!!!! I will be so glad when I do not have to pee every hour!!! Oh well enough complaining!
Once again, I have completed a couple more projects, I just have to get the camera out and post them. I will try not to be too lazy!!!

Harry Potter Test

This is fun! Harry Potter Test
This is my results! It figures!

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?
	You are part Ron. You're the typical sidekick. Sometimes you get jealous of your more popular friends, but that's only because you don't know how much work it is to be in the spotlight.
	You are part Fred and George. You're a joker at heart, but when push comes to shove, you know what's important.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Baby Blanket

I love how cute this turned out, but I need to remind myself that blankets may start out really excited and cute, but they drag on so bad, and quite frankly are boring! I guess that is my crochet ADD coming out! I made this one for a co-worker for her sisters new baby. So much for ever using that round ripple adult size afghan book I have!
I used Caron Simply Soft in Grape and Orchid.

Close up:

Almost there!!!!

I figured since I was on the home stretch of this pregnancy, I would repost my ticker. Yeah less then 30 days left!!!!


(took out ticker)

Another Test!

So I tested another pattern! This one is from one of the ladies from the 'ville. I tested a pattern called Barnyard Buddy Mouse. He turned out so cute! I think I am going to give it to my new nephew who is due to arrive around Thanksgiving. The pattern will soon be available in Stormyz Etsy Shop.