Weekend Fun - Cable Afghan & Scrap Yarn Project

This past weekend I decided that I needed to work on some of my almost finished knitting projects.  I got to the edging on the Cable Afghan I started while pregnant with my second son.  It looks really sophisticated and grown up.  I cannot wait to see what it looks like when I finish the boarder.

Here are some of my favorite squares along with my cat Prince Rhaegar. He loves to help me knit and crochet

I also started a scrap yarn project with Andi.  It is a basket weave crochet afghan where you just keep adding in yarn as you run out.  It looks really neat to see the colors fade in and out.

New Projects

I almost always think about starting a new project, even though I have so many unfinished at the moment.  Why is that?  I have been toying with the idea of starting a new Pop tab purse.  Everyone seems to love them but there is so much work and time that goes into them.  I might just have to flip a coin finish some projects or take on another huge purse project again.  I still have tons of materials left to make them.

Maybe I finish up the last (LATE) Christmas presents and then try and see if it speaks to me.   I have this cube of projects sitting beside me maybe I focus on those and clear space in the brain for more creativity.  I sometimes wish it did not feel like I have a million tabs open in my brain browser.

Gift Wrap Up

I never got to post all the wonderful things that I made for my friends and family for Christmas.  Thinks are always so busy around that time of year and just now seem to be calming down a little.

Here are some of the shawls/wraps I made

I oldest son got a Shark Pod and a set of Ninja Turtle Hats

I also completed 4 Pop Tab wristlets:

My youngest son got a blanket I have been working on for years.

I have an afghan I am still working on :(

Brioche Knitting

There were a few things I told myself I wanted to learn this year.

Continental Knitting
Brioche Knitting
How to play the Violin
and get my NASM CPT or Personal Trainer Certification to name a few.

Well I have had some ups and downs and life is as always crazy but here is where I stand.

I tried and tried continental knitting and kept having issues with tension and could never get it to work.  I put this in the back of my head and said I will come back lets move on and see what Brioche has in store.  I could not read the patterns not knowing what a Bark and Burp really meant.  So I am sitting here thinking I am 0-2 this year so far.  I go where I almost always go to learn things YouTube.  Things finally started to click and I was able to make patterns make sense to me, but here is the kicker, I could only do Brioche in continental Knitting!!! I somehow killed two techniques with one set of needles.  Now mind you I have not yet tried continental on anything but brioche yet but I hope that after a project it will be like second nature to me.

On a personal note I have had great progress with my nutrition and exercise and I am finally moving in the right direction in a slow steady rate.  I am down 20 lbs since the birth of my second child and cannot wait to get to my goal.  IIFYM has really been a life saver to me.

Here are some pictures of my brioche testing pieces.

2016 - New year

Well here is starts a new year and with that new beginnings.  I like everyone else have certain things they want to achieve this year and one of those on my LONG list is blogging more and becoming more consistent.  So we all have busy lives and lots of things on our plates, but I want this year to be the year I get all the ifs, questions, list sorted and completed.  Starting I will put some of my list here and the keep a running log of when things complete.

Knitting:
I want to learn continental knitting
I want to learn brioche knitting
I want to complete my Christmas knitting well before crunch time.

Life:
Get my best body yet
Get my NASM CPT (certified personal trainer) certification.
Start helping others with Macros and getting fit.

House
De-Clutter
organize
keep clean.

Just a few of my list but I am going to take small chunks here to make sure I get more done this year than added to my list.

I would like to post here at least once a week if not more and have better quality post and pictures of my projects.

Cheers to a new year and maybe great happiness come to all.

Skeila

15 Weeks and Counting

I have not posted in a while but here are the newer projects that I have been working on and updated on what I have completed.

I completed the Mara Shawl I really enjoyed working on it and when I was finished I felt a bit of loss for what to work on next.

I started some Pop- wristlets for a few of the people on my list. This are working up quick and look so sharp.

I have more progress on the afghan for my sister in law the colors together remind me of Dallas Cowboys.

20 Weeks til Christmas

So as I said in my last post that I took on a HUGE list of things to make for people for Christmas.  I would like to be able to make everyone something to give to them.  I got my list together started to find patterns and pair up yarn.  I then started up a TON of projects, this is usually my downfall lack of focus on one project until it is completed.  So after a week into my goal I have lots of things started but not very much completed.

Currently on needles and hooks:

I am still working on the Winter is Coming scarf for myself bit it has taken a back burner.

I have two shawls in the works one for my step mom and one for my sister in law.

I started a camo hat for my husband but I am not liking where it is going and will find a different pattern and maybe even different yarn.

still working the blanket for my other sister in law this one will probably take me the most of the weeks we have left.  I will work on it bit by bit so not to get burnt out.

I almost always have a few wash cloths and loofahs going.

I completed a reusable grocery bag that Andi suggested we make and use as gift bags and a secondary gift.  It was pretty simple but I think these should also take a back burner until I get most of the gifts completed.

I will continue to update progress as I go and hope to get more completed this week :)

Christmas in July

Well, I have finally decided to get my jump on Christmas knitting and Crochet early this year.  I have a lot of things I want to do but I am still unsure if I will get them all done.  I did some brainstorming put my list of people in a nice excel sheet to help me keep things neat and it the sum of projects I want to do comes up 26 with some various little items as just in case gifts.  With what about 21 weeks until Christmas I think I have my work cut out for me (HAHAHAHA)   Hopefully being organized this time will help me to get things done quickly and everything I need ready before Christmas.

My Goal is to blog along the way and post photos and links to the patterns as we go.

This weekend I cast on three different gifts.

First, For my Sister n Law I cast in a Shawl, this will be my fist ever its not super lacy but its has a little bit of Yarn Over action so that is super exciting. I am using the Mara pattern found here.

Second, I also cast on a variation of the In a Wink baby blanket for my other Sister in Law she loved the ones I made last year so I am making her a bigger variation.  Pattern Here  I got really lucky and found the colors she wanted on clearance!!

I will post a picture when I get more than a row done.



Third, I found some really cool  Red Heart scrubby yarn while scoping out Hobby Lobby.  I want to use this to make some loofahs, washcloths and dishcloths.  I started up simple knitted dishcloth, I just cast on 30 stitches and working garter stitch.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's day I got to go get me some more yarn (like I need it) But I sure wanted it.  I am going to make myself a scarf.  I got two colors dark charcoal and light charcoal for the Winter is Coming Scarf I found the other day.

Scarf

I love this design and want to find a similar for house Targaryen maybe if i cannot fnid one I can work out a pattern myself.

I wanted to cast this one on last night while watching Game of Thrones but I was busy with laundry instead. :(

Quilting - Could not help myself.

So I took my son into his check up today so on the way home we passed by Hobby Lobby.  I went ahead and made a stop HAHA not that I need more yarn or supplies.  I am trying to learn how to quilt so I took a look at the Jellies so I can attempt a coin quilt.  I watched this video from 24 blocks on facebook.

Video Coin Quilt

24 Blocks

They made it look super easy so I am excited to start.  I loved the colors of the Jellies so I think I will make this one for me.  You might not be able to see it but most fabrics have a metallic silver in them Drool!

Cleaning out bookmarks - Geeky Knits

I have been cleaning out my book marks and found this really cool collections of knitting projects.  I want to try most of them on the list but where to start?

I love stuff like this and makes me want to head out to the yarn store ASAP!!

What would be the first thing you worked on from this list?  I think I will try the Tardis for a dear friend.  She keeps begging me for one I guess I need to make good on it.

Knitting Projects

Pop Tab Fun

I sit here making some updates to older post.  Reformatting things making improvements.  While poking around I see my older pop tab purse post, and this really makes me want to do another one.  They take a long time but I have such pride seeing the final results.  I am wondering what color to try, and if I should try a different pattern.  I think I will take on another one in the next few weeks.  I love the way these look and I still have people that save tabs just for me.

What would you like to see in a new purse?

PerSkeila

Could I quilt?? Mario Quilt

Over the weekend I re-found a quilt that I really want to make.  I have never quilted before and this looks very intricate so not sure this is where I should start when trying to figure it out.  This quilt has over 7300 one inch squares.  I really want this quilt so I need to find a starting place to learn how to quilt.  My mother quilts and so did my grandmother but I have never learned the art.  Any suggestions on were someone who has never quilted should start?  I have watched a few YouTube videos as well as gotten some sample materials to make a quilt for each of my sons.

Here is my goal.  Its a free Pattern
Mario Quilt

Its a very large Mario block quilt!

I hope I can tackle this project

PerSkeila

One project a week

I have so many projects going on that I have decided that I need to take a week on each and finish them off.  First week will be finishing my cabled knit along.  I posted about it before here.  The only thing I need to do it get all the squares together (already half done) and put the boarder on it.  I also want to start rolling all of my yarn into cakes and organized in my new cube storage.

I have been getting all of my patterns together and putting them into a binder that I covered in fabric. (pic to come later)

I have started using these cards going forward to keep my project information in order.

Project Cards

Sheila

I have said it before

I know that I have said it before, once again I took a LONG break from blogging.  Updates: had a second child a healthy baby boy who is now almost 4 months old.  My first born is Turning 4 tomorrow.  I cannot believe how the time has flown by.  I am getting the final details set for his party this weekend.  He decided he wanted to do a Dusty Crophopper themed party.  Since we have been super busy with the new baby I have not had a chance to do anything crafty for the party.  I know he will still be excited and love it just the same.  

In the last few months of my pregnancy I knitted a lot and did  mostly baby items for other friends that were pregnant.  I finished three versions of the same blanket for me and two of my friends.  Right after the birth I had a need to do washcloths.  I knitted a few and then started to crochet a few as well.  I worked on a loofah and finished a few afghan projects.  

I want to get all of my WIPs completed and start to get a system going for using the Yarn I have and how to keep new projects and yarn organized.  I ended up getting a cube unit for what I do have and I am working on getting all of my yarn in it but I think I still have more than this HUGE unit can handle.

Does anyone have a good system for keeping WIPs in order and yarn displayed in one place?

I want to get into a better schedule of getting post up and keep my creative needs met.  

Cabled Afghan KAL

Over the summer I worked on the Cabled Afghan KAL.  I am working on the finishing right now and hope to have it completed next week.

Cabled Afghan KAL

It was really fun to do and learned how to do all those gorgeous cables!!  I was always intimidated by cables, so I made myself do this I was really surprised at how easy it was to complete.

Baby WIPs

Since the last post I have added a lot of new baby WIPs.  I have 5 friends all having babies right around the same time frame as my newest one is due.  I found a really easy knitting blanket that works up pretty quick that I am going to make for everyone.  The Rickrack blanket I was making for a friend has been on the back burner a while so I will make one of these as well, since Baby E is almost 6 months old already.  Now to see if I can power through 5 of these before my due date.

Here is the new blanket.

In a Wink Baby Blanket.
http://com.yarnspirations.pattern-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/WEB-B-BBYBLK-InAWinkBabyBlanket-ENG.pdf

I have worked on one for about a week and half and, I am about 70% done.  I might even make one for Baby L.
I changed the pattern a bit but only the orientation of the stripes the stitches are all the same.

Covered in WIPs

We are in the process of getting things rearranged in the house for the new baby.  Moving my son to a new room and letting him decorate has been fun, but there are random piles of stuff all over the place.  I am also losing my craft room so its been a challenge trying to find places for all my stuff.  I have also uncovered TONS of Works In Progress both knitting and crochet that I now feel the need to complete.

First is the Basket Weave pillow I started a while back. I actually finished the front panel while I was trying up this post.


http://thecrochetcrowd.com/basket-weave-crochet-pillow-2

I have two more for a friend who just had a baby.

Baby leggins I found the pattern here

http://knitpicky-knits.blogspot.com/2011/01/froggie-baby-legs.html

The Rickrack Rainbow Baby blanket a free pattern from red heart:

http://www.redheart.com/files/patterns/pdf/LW2548.pdf

I have a baby blanket I started for my son and never finished.  The gauge is off so it is going to be HUGE.


http://www.nikkiinstitches.com/entrelac-knit-baby-blanket/

Two more afghans

The Corner to Corner I started back in December

The ripple I started last summer

Last two pop tab wristlet projects.

Been gone awhile

It has been a while since I have posted but for good reason, I am pregnant.  I have just now started to get my crafting bug back and it has been in full force.  I am doing a baby blanket for a friend but that has been slow going. I really need to get this done very soon as the baby is already over a month old.

I have also been trying some granny squares and other piece together type blankets.  I have quite a few WIPs that I need to get finished so I can start working on stuff for Baby #2.

Dark Magenta Pop Tab Purse

Here is the finished product my friend said she loves the purse! I actually liked hers more than mine :)

Love the silver liner it makes the magenta pop.