Let's see if it works this time

Ha, it worked! The secret is to load one photo at a time. At least, that was the secret this time.

Three, count 'em, three f.o.'s

Good morning people. Last night I finished my Cupcake sans sleeves tank, based on the Cupcake sweater pattern in Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker book. It came out pretty well. I made it one size smaller than the original Cupcake I made (see previous post). It is a bit tight. Lesson learned - better to be a little big and drape well than a little small and accentuate areas that need not be accentuated (read: spare tire).

I was going to upload a picture of said Cupcake, but Blogger is being pissy, so you'll have to wait. Sorry.

I also crocheted three bibs last week. One per day. A good project to work on when you've just knitted a horrid bag (see other previous post). I already gave one away, and the recipient seemed quite pleased. Hopefully little Elijah Rey will slobber all over it once he arrives. Again, I'll post some pics once Blogger decides to get its act together.

I'm now working on a mesh shopping bag. The pattern is free from the Sugar 'n Cream website. I'm liking the way it's working up so far, and I hope to be finished with it late today or tomorrow, so I'll post a pic of that too.

That's all for now. Talk to you soon.

Almost F.O.

I'm in the midst of making another Cupcake sweater, this time sans sleeves. All I need to do is sew the seams, weave in ends, and crochet the trim. Pictures tomorrow. Sleep well.

The Princess Bride

I am addicted to this movie, as my dear husband Wayne Terrance will tell you. I know it's a real chickie thing to be addicted to, but so what? It's an awesome film. So imagine my sheer joy when I discovered this thing online that tells you what character you're most like!?! However, I must say my joy turned to dismay when I saw the results. Don't let this put you off me, people. I'm actually a pretty cool chick.



Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by

Fug

Well, hello. I am pretty much finished the @#$%^&*! knitted bag, and woo hoo, it is fug-ly. Truly. Now, I know that I should not expect perfection on my very first knitted project, but I do anyway. Lessons learned:

1. I need to count rows. I cannot rely on a tape measure for accurate measuring, because apparently I am incapable of using it correctly.
2. I need to work on finishing. It's important to remember that when sewing a stockinette piece to a garter stitch piece, the stockinette piece needs to be unrolled. It simply does not do to sew the garter stitch piece to the stockinette piece anywhere from one to two inches from the edge. This method does not result in a bag that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
3. Bags should not be knit from mill-end acrylic yarn, unless you intend to transport a snake in it - the cheap, stretchy acrylic will prevent the snake from ever escaping.
4. If at first you don't succeed, go back to crocheting and make something quick so you feel like you are actually capable of creating something useful and pretty. I banged out 3 crocheted bibs after the bag fiasco. They are cute and practical. Unlike a fugly knit bag.

I am not deterred, my friends. I will indeed pick up my needles again, and I will boldly go where people who are far more talented than myself have gone before. I just need to crochet a tank top real quick, and then I'll be ready.

I'm not sure if I'm going to post pictures of the fugly bag. It may cause your computer to crash. I'll let you know.

@#$%^&*!

I am on the verge of completing my very first knitting project, a knitted bag. It consists of two sides in stockinette, and a gusset that goes down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side. I accidentally made each stockinette side one inch too long, so one might suppose that if I added two inches to the length of the gusset, it would make it all the way around, right? Wrong! Apparently, 1 + 1 does NOT equal 2, it equals something far less than what is needed to complete a stupid knit bag that I'll probably never use ANYWAY because it has a whole row of twisted stitches on one side. Not that I'm bitter or anything. See pics for the proof.

Cupcake: my first completed sweater

Well, here it is, the first sweater I ever made. Not bad, eh? The yarn is TLC Cotton Essentials, and the pattern is Cupcake from Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker book. It's a little big in the waist, but I like the way it fits in the shoulders, and I was happy with the way the set-in sleeves turned out as well. It hardly took any time at all; her patterns are well written. I've heard it's necessary to check her errata page, and that this book has several errors, but I printed out the errata for the projects I intend to complete, and as long as I have that on hand, who cares? I like Stoller's books - they are clear and well-written, and they are a hoot to boot.

First crochet projects

Here are some of my first crochet projects. I learned to crochet from my dear Aunt Donna, who had the audacity to move to Sante Fe, NM. Hmph. Anyhoo, this is when all I knew how to do was single and double crochet.

I really liked this turquoise yarn. It's 100% cotton, small ribbon style, and it's nice to work with. It hardly took me anytime at all to make this scarf. The darker blue yarn was also a pleasure to crochet with. Both yarns are made by a German company whose name escapes me at the moment, but it's not GGH/Muench, I know that.

More exciting things to come. Stay tuned.

Welcome to my blog

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and get one too. I'll probably talk a lot about knitting (which I've just learned), crocheting (which I've been doing for a while), and other crafts such as jewelry making, amigurumi making, watercolor, and so on. I'll probably also talk a lot about my hubby wubby, Wayne Terrance, and my daughter, Banana. So I hope you find what I have to say interesting. Here we go!