Saturday, August 30, 2008

Antique shopping

I have to say...before this summer, I have never been antique shopping. I have seen countless antique stores and never really given two thoughts about it. About a month or so ago...A friend and I went antique shopping. It was like a candy store! Wow, I saw so many things that I wanted....well, i guess that really would not take much since I like just about everything. Especially if it is to clutter my home even more than it is....perfect! I saw some really fascinating things! I found an old spinning wheel...it would have been just perfect in my new craft room for decoration...but I declined. I saw lots of old photographs that were interesting. I found some one's little black book even! But, what caught my eye...and my pocketbook, was some old crocheted doilies. That is something that I have not even attempted to make yet. I think the works of old doilies are beautifully handcrafted...but I just can't imagine attempting yet. Look at some of the things I picked up! A lot of the pieces were stained...so I soaked them overnight in some oxyclean and then blocked and pinned them to dry flat.

Then, I found a beautiful piece that was probably used for a hot plate.....

I am also in the process of redoing my kitchen over in roosters! And I found these....

And the best part...I got to haggle for all my prices!!! What fun! Oh yeah, I also bought a couple of old crochet hooks that I think are made out of bone or ivory. Pictures to come soon!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Welcome to the world, Halia!

Well, last week I blogged a wee tribute to our fallen cousin Alexa. This week, we welcome her new little sister Halia to the world. I was planning to give to her the short and sweet sweater to her...but when I saw her room decorated in pinks and chocolate browns and off whites...I knew I had to make yet another Tiramisu!
I decided to mix this one up a bit and add a polka dotted ribbon woven through the edge. I like how it turned out...but was not happy that some of the dots rubbed off as I was desperately trying to weave the ribbon through the double crochets.


And I am working on another....you guessed it, another Tiramisu for our new neighborhood baby to be born next week. This is my first attempt at making a Tiramisu for a male. I decided to use blue for the interior, yellow for the shelled edging and weave into the double crochets white ribbon. I think that would make it "masculine" enough...I hope. We will see soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

In loving memory of Alexa


On Saturday, July 26th, we lost our cousin Alexa tragically in a car accident. She was only 19 years old. Her mom was about to give birth and Alexa came home from Martha's Vineyard to help her mom out. Alexa's mom actually gave birth after a scheduled c-section was postponed to this past Friday. Halia (Hawaiian) was born on August 1, 2008. Her name means in remembrance of a loved one. I can't imagine loosing a daughter, and with in that same week, giving birth to another daughter. Our prayers with the family. Please check out a local write up here.


Saturday, July 12, 2008

Welcome to the world, Lucia!


This past Thursday morning, my neighbors gave birth to a baby girl Lucia weighing in at 7 pounds even and 19 1/2 inches long! They call her Lucy!

They arrived home from the hospital today and I was lucky enough to meet her. I also finished the Tiramisu Baby Blanket. Totally forgot to take pictures....because I was so eager to give it to them. Maybe I will get lucky and be able to take pictures of Lucy on the blanket! Well...Lucy's mom LOVED it! She says that she is totally into handmade things and that she is so happy and thankful that I made it for her! She placed it in the baby's crib right away. Yeah, that makes me smile!

So, Welcome to the world and the "hood" Lucia!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

10 question...10 answers...

What is your first name? Regina
What is your favorite yarn? Bamboo
What was the first thing you made with yarn? Blanket for my son
What is your favorite color? Purple
Which crochet or knitting designer do you have a crush on? Robyn Chachula
Favorite handmade gift you have received? Picture frame with a picture of my kids!
Dream project? Knit sweaters
Favorite notion? Pretty stitch markers
What will you crochet/ knit next? Baby items
What do you love most about yarn? The entire fiber experience!!!
One word to describe your craft. Crochet!
Main inspiration to craft. Ravelry

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Stress, stress and more stress

I have not forgotten about all of you! Life has gotten crazy and has decided to take me a long with it. Last Friday I got in a car accident. Everyone is o.k....car is a little bruised and nerves were a little shaken up. Wouldn't ya know it, I hit a woman who's daughter is in my son's first grade class. Hmmmm, talk about 6 degrees of seperation!


Then that foloowing Monday, I found out my Dad went into the hospital with fluid in his lungs. They concluded he was in congested heart failure and needed added oxygen. He is thankfully home, but need to walk around with oxygen. Pretty much a life style change for sure.


But...I have crocheted a few things in the last couple of weeks! First off, my nephew Joey was born on June 2!!!! This is what I made him!

It was a fun and easy stitch...a an extended single stitch with a G hook. It was originally intended for a bolero for me...but as I was half way through with it...I decided that it would make a fabulous baby blanket. I did single crochet around the border...and then added some ruffles. My SIL really liked it...and what was the best is...he was using it the other day! Glad this week is over!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Ten Years ago...

Friday was my ten year wedding anniversary! That is a decade! Some days it seems like an eternity ago, and other times it feels like just yesterday. We had a nice dinner out and caught a movie...but when I got home from a manicure...this is what was waiting for me on my dining room table...

This is our framed wedding invitation with the original bouquet of my flowers. He matched up the flowers from my bouquet and had them in 13 vases. All except lilacs that are out of season. I had them in my bouquet, but they were artificial. After our wedding ceremony, and we were alone in the limo on our way to our reception, he said that the lilacs in the bouquet were the most beautiful he has ever seen. HA...fake!

Thanks for a wonderful ten years, honey...and here is to another glorious ten more! I love you!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Boteh complete



....and preschool is over for ever. I asked my son if he is gonna miss everyone and said "NO" pointing to his head, "i have got everyone up here." Too cute, I don't think the poor boy realizes that he really will not see his preschool friends and teachers again. He probably feels like it is another weekend, and he will see his friends on Monday. Just not the case. On to his teacher's gift....she absolutely loved the Boteh scarf. She could not believed that I made it with my two hands. I found this great hat box to put the scarf into. It was not made from cardboard either, this nice hard plastic. I figured it would be different than a gift bag....boring!


And I wrapped it all pretty with some pastel colored tissue paper...


I ended up using Plymouth Sockatta sock yarn that I had in my stash. I would have preferred a solid color not a color stranded yarn....but since I had it in my stash...I am not complaining. Besides...I think it came out stunning...and I also thought it was cool how the repeated motifs are almost different colors automatically. Could not have planned that even if I tried!


Here is some close ups on the stitches...



I think it does have some nice drape for a scarf...

The Gerber daisies I got from a surprise party and the azaleas are from my yard. Hope you enjoy the PINK SPRING THEME.....

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Borders Books Knit and crochet night

For about a month now, I have helped form a crochet and knitting group through Ravelry to meet at our local Borders book shop. It is so much fun. It is nice to finally have some fiber friends in real life. It started out with two of us, then four and in the last two weeks there was a total 10 of us. Our little group has certainly grew in such a little time. We meet once a week on Thursday nights...and it is a great way to almost kick of the weekend. I find myself really looking forward to Thursday nights...a time for some good crochet time, coffee time and surrounded by books and fiber friends. How fun!
I am also excited because I found a new yarn store. Well, the yarn store is not knew...but the location is. It is called The Creative Stitch. There new location is GREAT. It seems much more roomier, the lighting is 100% better, and I like the set up. Of course when visited, I had to buy something. Sometimes I feel I need to purchase something when I enter a yarn store. I dunno know why I feel this way, but I do. So...I bought three skeins of Plymouth Encore DK weight in a grey color. I also bought some Noro sock yarn in a rainbow colorway for a shawl.
I also signed up for a crochet class to make a baby kimono sweater at my LYS. It is two 3 hour sessions. One class was last weekend, and the other class is at the end of the month. There was four of us in this class, and I was the only "crocheter", the other ladies were knitters learning how to crochet. And boy, I learned a lot about gauge...how it is really important to make a gauge swatch and how to correctly measure a swatch. Things I knew...but was actually shown how to do it. I didn't realize, but even if you are off just 1 or 2 stitches, it can really effect the entire size of the finished project. The suggested yarn for this project is Ella Rae baby cotton. I picked a dusty pink color...I think it is so pretty.
The teacher Kim was super. She was patient and explained the directions clearly. We have three weeks to complete the back of the sweater and the two front pieces. In the next class we will learn how to shape the arms, sew a button on and seam it up. I am looking forward to learning these finishing techniques. Eagerly awaiting the next class!

Update...Boteh scarf is coming along...only 5 more motifs and edging and I am done. It needs to be finished and blocked by Friday.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

For all the wonderful mothers out there...hope you are enjoying your day!

Have been busy on the crochet front lately...even though I am having trouble keeping up on he blog about my projects. Sorry about that....Does it count that I am constantly thinking about posting??? Anyhoo...without further a do...what have I been working on?

I am working on a Boteh scarf from Spring 2007 Interweave Knits in this sock yarn intended for a sock. It is Reggia sock yarn. Now that I am half way through with the scarf, I think I would be happier if I made it in a solid color. But, what can I do...I am stash diving!

Then I decided to make another Child's short and sweet cardigan with the recommended yarn...Lion Brand Baby Soft in Pistachio for my neighbors 18 month old girl. It is coming a long great so far. Pictured below is the completed backside, and I am finishing up the two front panels. All I have to finish is the sleeves and seams. I am also thinking about modifying the sleeves by crocheting them in the round...but we will see, I am not at that point yet.

I am still working on my second Tiramisu blanket and some baby things. I have a baby boy nephew being born in less than a month, and I just had a second cousin baby girl born. I better start finishing up these baby things now!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Short and Sweet Cardigan

I just finished my first child wearable! I am very proud of this piece. I got the pattern on the Lion Brand Website, click here. The directions rated this project easy....but I don't think I agree 100%. Sure, the stitch pattern is super easy...but the seaming took some time. Especially since I did not even know how. And I have never sewed a button on anything. So it was a learning experience for sure.






I was lucky enough to be shown how to seam from a sweet lady from my new knit and crochet group (I will talk about this later)
It is not the best seaming job that I have seen...but not bad for my first time. There are so many babies being born this summer into our family and neighborhood that I decided to start early on the baby gifts. I am also working on another Tiramisu blanket and some other baby outfits.




Hope you all like. I did not use the recommended yarn for this project. I used some of the skeins of Simply Soft in orchid that I had in my stash. I could not believe how much it split. I may use the Baby Soft Lion Brand yarn in pistashio for the next one. Although, my neighbor who liked it...commented on how she loved how soft the yarn was. She has an 18 month old who would look adorable in one. Hmmmm...of course I already bought the Baby Soft yarn. I am sure I will figure out something. See, I told you all in blogger world that I was working on crocheted stuff. YAY!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Looky what I made and what I got!

WARNING: image heavy
I made a few interesting tawashi's for the tawashi swap. I made a scrubby out of Knit Picks Shine that reminded me of a watermelon when it was finished. Wouldn't ya know, my swap partner revealed after the swap that she loves watermelons!!! Perfect. I told her that she may want to use it as a shower scrubby since I made it out of cotton....she agreed.

Then I had some fun making an amigurumi carrot for scrubbing carrots!!!! I think it came out cute...not bad for my first time....

Then I had my hand at making some crocheted flowers....that looks like stars...


Lastly, I gave an extra treat of handmade stitch markers in a crocheted case, of course!.




And look what I got...


Fishy Tawashi and some beautiful stitch markers which I forgot to photograph ;)