My family planted a garden! I'm so excited about it, you don't even know. Most of them are peppers, but that's fine by me since they are SUPPOSED to be easy to grow and we eat them like crazy!
Here's how my Halloween Afghan is coming along:
Also, I'm making Plarn!! Yarn made from plastic bags. The more colorful, the better!
So, besides loving the fact that I get to be uplifted and edified, General Conference is one of my favorite times. While hearing the things that bring peace and comfort in these troubled times, I also get to sit on my tooshy and crochet for two days!!!!
Alrighty, first I want to post the things I finished PREVIOUS to conference
ok, so I don't know where this idea originated. Kristin was showing me some of her inspiration and one was a set of mismatched frames that said FALL on beautiful paper. They were black letters, but I LOVED the idea and went my way with it! Eventually I'd like to upgrade the frames, but this'll work for now.
THIS is one of the reasons I was so ecstatic about One Pretty Thing. She has a Halloween section and there are some amazing links. This link was to Hostess with the Mostess. GORGEOUS (IMO anyway). I think I'll keep this idea and use the vase, change the candy and flowers w/ the holidays. how cute will conversation hearts look in there come V-day?
Yes, I'm aware that this isn't a craft, but isn't he adorable? I'll be making one of my kids soon.
Alright. So conference, me and my hooks stayed happilly attached. I finished Xander's Halloween treat bag, pictured here:
It was my first time felting. The teeth look wierd, yes I'm aware. It's because the gray is all 2 stranded and the white is not. Xander doesn't care.
Next, I made a couple more cookies for Juliana's bday set:
The vanilla one is horrendous. The insides are way bigger than the outsides. Oh well. It's a pretend cookie for a three year old. If I were doing it for a gift (or, maybe one day, commission), I would make sure it was perfect.
These are Hershey Kisses, or giant chocolate chips, whichever you prefer. I made up the pattern all by myself. Here it is:
Rd 1: ch 1, make loop. sc 6 into hold of loop
Rd 2: 2sc in each sc
rd 3: 2 sc in each sc
rd 4: sc in each sc
rd 5: sc in each sc
rd 6: dec next 2 sc, sc in next 3 sc's , repeat all the way around
rd 7: sc in each sc
rd 8: dec next 2 sc, sc in next sc, repeat all the way around
rd 9: keep dec until closed. Close w/ sl st at the top.
Let me know if there are any problems in the pattern so I can fix. Don't hesitate to call me out!!
I also did two other things, but one is going to be for the Ravelry Mystery Crochet, so I won't post the pic till I'm done. The other is a pattern being tested right now, so we'll see!
I made a shirt today! I found THIS tutorial and decided, what the heck, why not? So I grabbed some material. Now- I know better than to do first time clothes with anything but regular cotton. But all I had was this fairly heavy silky/polyesterish- I don't know what it is exactly. So I thought, eh, if it doesn't work, I"ll use it for a skirt for Juliana eventually. I followed the tut prety much, then went to try it on. It was a tent. I looked like an old lady that owns 25 cats and lives in a dump. It was awful! Nothing wrong w/ the tut, I just used WAY too much fabric was all (I didn't measure everything exactly). So I decided to take it in and after taking it in like 3" on each side...... still a tent! So I went upstairs and asked Roger to do some pinning where I wanted it to fit. He did and I sewed up the adjustments. I bought some ribbon tonight to use for a belt (I have some D-rings here at home I need to spray paint gold). I've been wearing the shirt since like 3PM but every time I passed a mirror something just didn't sit well. I don't know if it's the line straight down the middle.... DH and BFF said that it was cute and I don't *think* they'd lie to me. Tonight it hit me though- it was the neck. There's so much fabric between my neck and my breasts that they look saggy to me. So I think soon I"m going to adjust the neckline. Either square it, v it, or scoop it. I just need a little less fabric there.
Anyway- here it is- I'm very proud of myself!
You can't see, but there's kind of darts on the side so it's tighter by my breasts and looser by my waist.
Also, I made a couple hand-painted cards last night.
Ok, I am BOUND and determined to learn how to crotchet. PERIOD. I got tired of waiting to be taught, so I went to the library. I checked out three books:
Crocheting for Dummies by Karen Manthey and Susan Brittain
Stitch N B*tch crochety The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
Getting Started Crotchet by Judith L. Swartz
It's taken me all three books to learn the basic single stitch. Can I tell you that I was in tears because I couldn't figure out HOW in the world all my stuff ended up triangular. Then there was one sentence in Getting STarted that SAVED my sanity. It was, and I quote, "Don't forget to add one turning chain at the beginning of each new row of single crochet." I even called my mom to tell her, since I'd called her just before so frustrated with it all. I really, REALLY want to just JUMP into these projects, but I know I'm not there yet at ALL! I still have every stitch to learn besides the single crochet stitch.
Here's one of my practice swatches
Ok, so after a few VERY close calls w/ acrylic paint and my pants, I decided I should cut my risk down and wear an apron. I made one when Roger and I were first married, but I could NOT find it today, so I grabbed one of DH's old ones. He used to work at a grocery store deli. Anyway, it fit great, but it was kinda ugly. SOOOOo.... I decided to make my own! I would love to have one of the emmaline aprons, but alas, I couldn't afford the pattern. And even if I could afford it, I"m not sure I'd ever have the guts to try it. Anyway, so instead I made this apron:
Please excuse the bizarre proportions. 1. I'm pregnant and showing and 2. My husband didn't bother standing up to take the picture, so it's at an odd angle.
Also, anybody know how to clean out acrylic paint from sinks? Mine is nasty! It looks like this:
It's as sanitary as sanitary gets- I tried scrubbing w/ vinegar. But even that hasn't TOUCHED the acrylic paint I've used. And I know I'll add more to it. So do I just let it be a gross looking sink or is there a secret to cleaning it off?
