Oops!!

I had a yarn binge this month. Now, don't expect really nice expensive yarn... There was a sale...

One doesn't expect the grocery store to have yarn. Our Meijer does, a very small amount, in their little itty, bitty craft section. When labels change or whatever, they mark down their yarn. I've scored some great deals this way. While I don't go grocery shopping at Meijer every week, my mom does. She mentioned this markdown, and I said if the yarn goes lower, to like 75% off or something, go ahead and pick some up. This time (and nearly every time) it was Lion Brand Homespun Quick & Thick. This is a newer line of the same colors, etc, of the Homespun yarn that I use for my infinity scarves for my craft shows.

160 yards per skein is no big deal, right?

Wrong. I added nearly 2000 more yards of yarn to my stash. Granted, this yarn will probably not make it past the New Year, if it makes it past my wedding. Or so I hope. 12 skeins total, in a variety of colors.

Expect to see more infinity scarves in between all the fancier stuff I'm making! :)

Making New Things!

I am so excited to have pictures to share of the new things I've been making.

Both of my WIP shawls

Ananas Crocheted Shawlette

testing new settings on my camera- B&W except for blue things :)

Stephanie's Wrap

My hand-dyed tonal pink.

I had all the yarn for my Steph wound into balls on Thursday last week, using my cousin's eldest daughter M for my swift. (Note to self: KnitPicks makes their skeins small. Drill new holes on Lazy-Susan swift.) M is really great, and she loves helping me with yarn-y stuff (I sense a new student as soon as my schedule slows down). As much as I wished I had, I didn't officially start crocheting until Sunday night, when I alternated between 3 projects.

Sunday night, my "Ananas" were just starting to appear on the shawl. But the rows were really long! So, I didn't get as far as I had wanted to, but finally added the second skein. The pineapples are starting to be visible too-- I totally love watching these sorts of patterns develop.

This was my afternoon- popcorn, tea, Rav & crocheting

With Spring Break ending and classes starting back up, my crafting time diminished. However, I will be done teaching this week, and finish all the student teaching paperwork, etc, next Friday. So, crafting time will again be a large part of my day.

Joining Tami's WIP Wednesday & Ginny's Yarn-along!

Weekends and Time off.

The kiddos

running ahead

sibling love

beautiful sunshine

More Sibling Love

Japanese yumminess

It's not til the end of my Spring break that I get out and about. I spent some time with my cousin and her kiddos, because we are both on break right after Easter. Her family is so much fun to be around. E and I had to meet with the priest, and his church is just down the road from my cousin's house, so I like stopping over there when we meet with him. E & I went with T and the kiddos to the park after our meeting. It was quite the adventure. Being out in the sun was just lovely. 

T's two girls are going to be in the wedding, and the younger one, A, is super shy. So E & I spent some time trying to get her comfortable when we were out. She warms up very slowly, and I think having E around made her quiet, even though she contentedly walked with us and held my hand. 

That evening, E wanted to take me out to a nice dinner, so we had Japanese. It was one of those restaurants where they cook everything in front of you, and it's a bit of a show. Definitely a fun experience. 

And now I'm spending the rest of the weekend finishing up a unit plan for my student teaching, and preparing to go back to school. I love teaching, but I'm so glad that the tedious stuff (paperwork, etc) will be done in 2 weeks. And then GRADUATION! WOO!

Also, there are slow preparations for moving out of the house-- 6 boxes of stuff went to E's house (because his parents have the space, and we're planning on living in his town instead of mine) and there's another stack to go already. About 4 months left to go!

Finished: Dyeing

This yarn was supposed to coordinate, not match, but since I was experimenting with dye, it turned out pretty close in color. My last few days have been a bit busy, so I haven't gotten anything finished. It's ok though. I'm enjoying my last few days of Spring Break.

The top yarn is KnitPicks Palette, and the bottom is KnitPicks Bare Stroll, which I obviously dyed. I'm planning on making the crocheted version of the Color Affection shawl that has been popular. I'm excited to see how it comes out.

Yesterday, the weather was beautiful and I spent the afternoon with my cousin and her children. We all went to a nearby nature park and had a lovely long walk. Photos later, for sure :)

Share all your FOs (hopefully more finished than mine!!) over at Tami's!

Pi Miles

I was just checking my knitmeter for my crocheting, and realize6d that I am not a math person.  One mile  equals 1760 yards. And I am at 3.14 miles, or pi!! It was just funny, because I didn't realize how "easy" it would be to crochet a mile. Right now, I'm crocheting roughly 1 mile a month. My stash is decent sized, not quite SABLE, even though it feels like it-- 26650 yards as of my last Ravelry stash count. With my current count and my current rate of crocheting, I may use up all my yarn in 15 months!

Good or bad? Who knows?

If the internet actually worked.

Of course, the internet gets super frustrating when I am home for a whole week, on and off my computer for school and crafts. Its slowness can't even be blamed on too many laptops using internet in the house because neither of my brothers are home, and my sister and I are only doing super basic stuff with our internet. All this to say that I am super sorry for no pictures today. I uploaded a few to Rav early today, but forgot to grab my WIP pics.

So, in progress this week I have Ananas Crocheted Shawlette, a LB Homespun infinity scarf (color Tulips), and yarn drying for Stephanie's Wrap. Also, a few plain hats for fall craft show stuff, but those usually get pushed to the end of the list. I am honestly trying to stash-down, and all of the projects are using stash yarn-- I even had to make do with what I had on hand so I could start working on Stephanie's Wrap. Both of the shawls are part of CSW's Support a Designer CAL, where all those participating in the CAL pick a pattern made by a member designer. A few of the participants are crocheting the same pattern, but the idea is more to get project pages attached to patterns that might not have as many projects.

My Cold Sheep progress for March was pretty good, especially with help from the CSAL. I was able to use up 2400 yards of stash. I'll admit that some of it was new yarn, but the out was greater than the in. My goal for April is to only use stash yarn, no purchases at all, and to beat my yardage total from March. Since I'm already nearing 500 and it's only April 3, I think my chances of surpassing 2400 yards used are pretty good. We shall see.

I'm linking up with Tami for WIP Wednesday and Ginny for Yarn-Along, as both share lots of yarny goodness on Wednesdays!! :-)

another Wednesday

I'm grateful for Spring Break, which is just around the corner.

My busy school schedule has been keeping me from crocheting as much as I'd like, but in these last few weeks, I'm thinking my schedule will get back to normal.

Slow progress...

Last week I was working on fingerless gloves to go with my slouch hat, but on Monday, I decided that I just wanted a scarf. So I'm making up a pattern as I go for an infinity scarf that almost matches the hat.

I'm tired of the crazy weather, and am hoping that spring will finally come our way. Not much else around here.

Linking with Tami & Ginny!