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FO Friday! 1

SO it's Friday (cue Rebecca Black song)
I've managed to finish 3 items since last week, but nothing of great awesomeness. I'm totally failing at posting pics, and I feel super bad about it. Hopefully next week I'll have some to share.

I finished another scarf for the show next week- Lion Brand Homespun in colorway Harvest- I love the greens and oranges- nice and fall-ish. I also finished a shawl  in the same yarn, but in colorway Golden. One  more hat out of the way- a lovely red with yellow spines and blue spots. I love how the color combo turned out- very bright and cheery.

I'm looking forward to craft show season being over, even though I do love the rush of trying to get enough stuff done for a show. As I say every year, I definitely plan on trying to get more inventory prepared ahead of time, but no guarantee, especially with school getting busier with each passing semester. But, if I do plan on continuing with these shows, I will need to have inventory ahead of time, as next fall will be super busy.

Pictures on Monday!!
for more FO Fridays, head over to Tami's!

WIP Wednesday! 3

Yarnberry over on Tumblr always has her post bright and early, and when I'm browsing Tumblr, I always am reminded to post my WIPW.

This week I've been working on my inventory for my Nov. 5 craft show. (Dont worry, I'll be done talking about it in a week and a half). I am currently working on 1 shawl, 1 scarf and 2 hats. I only work on all of these simultaneously because the hats I can keep in my bag when I'm at school and work on them to help me focus on the lecture. I have 2 green hat bases finished, waiting for their embellishments.

I'm planning on finishing the last batch of hats this weekend so I can focus just on the shawls and scarves all next week. I've definitely got plenty of yarn, as Michael's had a sale, plus a 20% coupon for 4 hours on Sunday.
For more awesome WIPW, head on over to Tami's!

Hats Galore!

john deere dino, a photo by mmwitch on Flickr.

This is one of the hats that I've made for the Nov. 5 craft show.

Sunny Saturday!

   It's the first clear sky-sunny day we've had here in almost a week, and I'm stuck inside, being responsible and working for 6 hours. But I can be thankful that I have a job. And I'm at a library, which is probably one of my favorite places in the world. I just love libraries. I could go on for ages, but I'll spare you.

   Today, my goal is to finish the rest of my hats for the craft show I'm selling at in 2 weeks, and yesterday's power outage has gotten me on the right track. I just have to keep reminding myself to prioritize my craft projects, and finish the 'important' ones first. (important meaning the ones that will help me pay for college) I have high hopes for this last craft show, as it's in November, and my fall/winter accessories might actually sell well. And I'll be there this time, and be able to talk up my products. (the last show I sold product at was the weekend of my annual women's conference, so my aunt was kind enough to sell my stuff without me) I'm still trying to come up with product ideas to sell at a spring craft show, so if you have any suggestions... :-)

   Luckily this weekend my homework load was not super heavy, so I can work on other things. I have a couple books at home that I should start reading, as well as all my craft projects. And I still want to enjoy the weather. Humbug! Such is the life of a busy working college student.

FO Friday 1

To view more FO Fridays, go to Tami's blog!

I'm quite proud of myself, as I did actually manage to finish a few things this week.
(Most of them were finished today, as no power keeps me off my computer, etc)
2 hats for the craft show in 2 weeks are now finished: baby blue with a pink flower and purple with a white flower.
I've finished the Cloudburst shawl test pattern, and it's currently blocking in my basement. I feel bad because I don't have any pictures right now.
So, if you come back between now and WIP Wednesday, you should see my pictures as I get them uploaded! :)

WIP Wednesday! 2

So, sometimes I forget about WIP Wednesdays. Today is not that day :)

 I'm currently working on a shawl/scarf test pattern through the Crochet Shoulder Wrappers group on Ravelry- I'm nearly done with it, but am making a few adjustments so it's more to the size I had hoped for.

 I've got an orange hat for the craft show pile- this is the last skein of this old-ish Mary Maxim yarn in hunter orange that I got from my aunt- she was going to make a hunting sweater (obvi) but it didnt happen, so the yarn got passed on to me. I dont mind orange that much, but 8 skeins of it is a lot.

I'm also still working on my 3rd Elise shawl, as well as a handful of craft show headbands.

Head over to Tami's Amis to see more WIPs!

the beginning of my 2nd Elise

WIP Wednesday! 1

WIP= work in progress

1. I have another Elise shawl on the hook. This one is in recycled wool. I dyed it myself, this time using the stovetop method.
2. Still working on that stubborn knitted vest for my brother- but I'm calling it a WIP because I actually had a chance to work on it this week.
3. I'm making lots of hats- right now I have 5+ hats that still need decoration- flowers or dinosaur spines- They are to be completed for my next craft show- November 5.

That's all for today- for more WIP Wednesdays, see Tami's Amis

On the Hook

I finished my Elise #2, and am working on a 3rd. LOVe LOVe LOVe this pattern.

this is totally unrelated to anything.

Currently: On the Hook

I was so thrilled with my Spots of Sunshine Elise that when I had a spare ball of yarn in my bag this weekend, I started another. I winged the beginning a bit, but the pattern becomes habit, so it flew out off the hook.
The yarn was another hand-dyed adventure- a pink wool/cashmere sweater that I dyed with Berry-Blue and Grape Kool-Aid (inspiration here)- but upon reaching the 20th row or so, my yarn was running out ( I have a tendency to dye yarn on a whim, never making the same color twice). Luckily I still had the un-dyed collar from the sweater waiting to be unraveled hiding in my closet, so I pulled it out and kept working. But, yet again, I ran out of yarn (me, being brilliant and forgetting that crocheting always uses more yarn than knitting). Fortunately, I still had more yarn from this recycled sweater (though it wasn't dyed the same color...) and I was able to continue. So now, my second shawl is nearly done, and has 3 different colors in it: the blue/purple/pink that I started with, the original pink of the collar, and my final color of red/purple/pink.
We'll see if it needs to be over-dyed.

Dyeing adventures!

I've been on this awesome yarn dyeing kick. Kool-aid, Wilton's and some wool are all you need! :)
I bought a few sweaters a week or so ago,  both in a weird shade of green- one was kinda mottled, and the other was green with grey stripes. I knew I couldn't take them apart, but I couldn't pass them up because they were both wool. So I brought them home.
Today I decided I needed to change their color, but I knew I couldn't dye them in the microwave because they are both huge sweaters and they won't fit in my little pan in my little microwave. So, this is my first attempt at stovetop dyeing. Fortunately, my brother recently made soup, so there was a clean large stovetop kettle/pan/thingy out and stuff.
Half filled with water, 2 packets of Berry Blue Kool-aid, 1 of Lemon-lime, plus some Royal Blue Wilton's- heated up not quite to boiling. Stirring occasionally, watching for the dye to all take. So my grey/green striped legwarmers are now blue-green. (I forgot to say: I've chopped the arms off these sweaters to make quick and easy and cozy legwarmers!) (I'll dye the rest of the sweater later, and cut it up and felt it for a cool patchwork felt bag)
So that's today's adventure. Sorry I'm not feeling top notch today, so its a bit like reading word vomit...

Books on my Reading List

• The Dragon's Apprentice
• War in Heaven
• The Pirate King
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

And this is just the list of ones that I'm borrowing from the library currently.