My Very First Amigurumi

My husband, Trevor , gave me Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow for Christmas. I immediately went searching in my bag for some yarn that I could use to make an animal. Amigurumi is Japanese for stuffed toy, in case you didn't know. I was at my parents' house at the time so didn't have my whole stash with me. I did just happen to have some pink merino yarn though. Valley Yarns Amherst Powder Pink to be specific. Tamie Snow recommends using the "cheap stuff" which I don't carry with me. I do have some "cheap stuff" but it's not what I use on a regular basis. Anyway, I pulled out some yarn and hook and got to work! I didn't work on it continuously but if I did I probably would have finished in 2 or 3 hours. I started it on Christmas day and by the next evening it was mostly done. I finished up on Saturday morning, with help from Elijah, my sister's cat. We were staying at their house at the time. So, to finish my yarn about the little pink piggy, I added it to the bag of gifts for Chloe's 3rd birthday, which was Monday the 29th.

You Do?

Last Saturday, the 20th, (my 44th birthday), we had a Little Christmas celebration with Mom, Dad, Wendy, Jon and Chloe. Wendy, Jon and Chloe are spending the holiday with the Snyders in Philly. During lunch I leaned over to Chloe (she's almost 3), who was sitting next to me, and said, "I love you, Chloe." and she said, "You do?".

Here she is enjoying some chocolate cake! Yum!

Merry Christmas!

A few years ago I gave up on sending Christmas cards. I prefer to send store-bought cards to close friends and family, Trevor prefers to send hand-made cards to EVERYONE he knows. I don't know if we'll ever compromise on this so I'm taking a Christmas card hiatus. Although, the other day, when I was in Broadside Bookshop in Northampton, I saw what I thought was the perfect Christmas card for a librarian to send...

Anyway, Trevor always comments on the photo cards we get from friends that feature their children but not the parents. And this Rhymes with Orange strip pretty much sums up his feelings on the subject. If you've been guilty of this just know what I wouldn't actually "clip and send" this to you (Kurt and Shelley....). I do have friends who pose with their children on their cards. Last year, Amanda and Michael posed with their children, Austin and Regan. They're a good-looking family. If I could find the card (I actually do save the photo cards- just not sure where they are) I'd scan it in and post it here. This year, Heather and Peter posed with their son, David. Some parents feel the way my friend Ken does about posing with the kids, "Just the pics of the kids alone.... Do you really want to see me hanging on your mantel for a month?? I didn't think so."

And speaking of cards, I'm always amused by the card that I get from Florence Savings Bank. Why does the bank send me a card? Because I went to them when I had to roll-over my IRA several years ago. This year, they sent a PHOTO CARD!

A Note of Thanks

My niece, Ivy (she's 5), was sick for a bit and so I sent her a get-well card and put some stickers in the card. Today I got this note in the mail with most of the stickers that I sent her! This is the second time I've sent her stickers and got back a home-made card with the stickers that I sent her on it! But this time, that's her handwriting! She's in kindergarten and according to her papa, she has the best handwriting in her class. I agree! I love her :-)

Boy Hat

I finished! I finished the hat in Cozy Crochet by Melissa Leapman that she calls "Boyfriend Hat". I call it boy hat. It's half-double crochet into the back loop only back and forth, etc, several rows. Then you just sew up the seam and weave the yarn through the edge and bring the top together nice and tight, and turn up the edge for a cuff. It's very simple. Yarn I used is Ella Rae Classic Elite. If it fits my big head (23" circumference!) I'm hoping it'll fit the guy I made it for. Can't tell ya... it's a Christmas present!

My First Attempt at Felting

I've been wanting to try felting something for a while. I just really like the way it (whatever it is) looks after it's been felted. I've already corrected a few times by my neice, Emily, that the process is actually "fulling" but since I think few people would understand what that is, I'll continue to call it "felting". I've also been wanting to crochet a bowl so I found the perfect project! I found a book called Felted Crochet by Jane Davis and requested it from my library through inter-library loan (too many details? too bad). I made the stiff yarn bowl and this is what it looks like before felting. Notice that it's 11". I used Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky which is 85% wool, 15% Alpaca. It's double crochet all around then single crochet along the top edge in case you were wondering. (Asleep yet?)

Here it is in the washer with a few canvas bags to provide more agitation. It's also an excuse to wash your canvas shopping bags.

Here it is freshly felted (or fulled). It only shrank about 10%, a lot less than I was expecting but it's still has that fuzzy look that I like about felting.

Here's the bowl in use on my table next to my chair where I sit and work. Notice that it's holding yarn and, hooks, etc, and not soup or cookie dough. Some may want to call it a basket and that would be fine but I'll continue to call it a felted bowl.

Free Tickets

Yesterday, while I was sitting around crocheting a pink mitten and listening to WMUA, the DJ came on and said he had tickets to see The Bobs and if you want to see The Bobs at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton tonight call him. So I did! And guess what? We went to see The Bobs at the Iron Horse last night! I'd seen them before back when, what I'm starting to think were "the good old days" of working at Northampton High School. The Bobs are a 4-person a cappella group from the West Coast. They've been in existence for over 25 years and sing everything from Led Zeppelin to Cream to The Beatles, etc. They're a lot of fun and it was really nice to go to a show for free! Well, not entirely free since we bought drinks and a basket of french fries! But, the tickets were free!

My Horoscope

I don't usually bother with reading my horoscope but it was staring me in the face today when I was eating my lunch. If you can't read the small type this is what it says:

"Start thinking about your future and what you have to offer. A change to career that is more stable or at least offers an ongoing paycheck will ease your stress and help you evaluate where you should be headed next."

Basically, it says, "Get a job."

Crochet is Taking Over My Life

You might think from the photos that the Surfer Chick Quick Cap in the Chicks with Sticks Guide to Crochet is taking over my life, but it's really not. I've got 3 other projects going right now: 2 scarves and a hat. Yes, I've made a total of 4 Surfer Chick Quick Caps. The top one is Plymouth Yarns baby alpaca and its soooo soft.

This Surfer Chick Quick Cap in Artyarns Supermerino color 111.

This one is Ella Rae Palmero. Don't worry, none of these are for me. I'm not saying who they're for in the event the recipient reads my blog. I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Crochet is taking over my life! When I'm not crocheting (which is pretty much most of my waking hours), I'm reading crochet patterns on Ravelry or in books or Interweave Crochet; searching for crochet patterns on-line; photographing and blogging about my finished projects; updating my stash on Ravelry; and buying more yarn at Webs. It's convenient that I live 10 minutes from the largest yarn store in the US. Recently, I was checking the balance in my bank account and was relieved that when I was done paying my bills I could still buy more yarn! My crochet teacher says it's okay to be passionate about your craft. I agree!

I can't crochet in the following situations:
driving a car
cooking
eating
sleeping
in church
in a dark movie theater
bathing
walking

It's safe to crochet:
as a passenger in a car (preferably in daylight hours)
in a chair
watching TV

The sun is shining and it's relatively warm for early December. I'm tempted to continue working on the scarf I started this morning but I'll go out for a walk instead.