i'm still alive!

Kind of.  I don't feel very well and am desperately trying to get better so I can go to Philadelphia for NYE. I don't have any finished projects, but I have two WIPs to show off!

Firstly is a baby blanket for my step sister who is expecting a little girl sometime early next year.  I used the squares from the Lil' Monkey Afghan in the Happy Hooker but adapted the pattern to how I wanted the entire thing to look.  The problem is, I've run out of my white yarn with only TWO sides to go until the end!  I hate when that happens.  So I'm saving a finished product picture until it really is finished, and I'll just show some pictures of squares! 

 

The second project is yet another blanket, this time a stashbuster!  These are my favorite kinds of blankets, they turn out amazing.  

This is the first stashbuster I made, earlier this year.  I finished approximately 21 different skeins of yarn making it!  It's a little larger than my bed which is full sized.  There is some fun fur, some sequins, some wool, and some crazy stuff that I don't really remember in that blanket.  The large granny square worked well because of the different yarn weights.

Now my stash is all similarly weighted, so I'm going to do a hexagonal motif stashbuster, using 5 different motifs from Beyond the Square!  It is going to take forever, but hopefully it'll be worth it.  Here's progress...

Pretty soon, I'll have a big post to show off my spinning, I've gotten 3 good sized skeins so far on my drop spindle and have two sets of roving dyed to try out when I get my wheel! Gah I'm so excited.

new things.

I haven't posted in forever, mainly because I just completed my first week as a government employee and I'm still figuring out how to work, get enough sleep, go to the gym, and still be able to craft things.  It's a tough process.

However here are some finished Christmas presents!

Two hoops, one for my grandfather and his wife, and one for my grandmother.

reindeer cupcakes!

I don't have much to say, just wanted to post a picture of what my mom and I got through with.  Our family Christmas party is tomorrow so today was spent preparing.


I give you...

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in cupcake form!

elliot & rivers.

Today, I really, REALLY miss my cats. So I'm going to post about them and hope that this cheers me up. First I will tell the story of how they came to be...

In May 2007, I moved to Murfreesboro, TN to finish college and lived in an apartment by myself, in a state where I knew nobody. I eventually called my mom and asked her if I could get a cat, so I wouldn't be alone all the time.

This is how I acquired baby Elliot (who is now simply called "Eli" unless he is in serious trouble). He was adopted from Petsmart's Adoption Center when he was a little, tiny kitten...

look at all this fiber-y goodness!

Yesterday I went on an adventure to Flying Fibers in Landisville, PA. The store is about 25 minutes away from my house, and one of the only stores of its kind near me. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the shop was to find, and how wonderful the staff was! I discovered that classes are offered at the shop on a variety of topics including spinning on a wheel, knitting, crocheting, cables, sweaters and more. Once I get more competent at drop spindle spinning, I may take a class on wheel spinning, just to learn.

The selection of roving was amazing as well, the variety is listed on their website.

I cannot wait to go back! Yesterday I got...

4.6oz of Shetland

4oz of Jacob

Blue Faced Leicester (I don't know the amount, it was pre-priced)

On another note, my mom has decided to NOT wrap all the spinning related gifts I'm getting for Christmas (she says she's going green), so i was given all of this yesterday and today!

ONE POUND of undyed natural wool roving from Smokey Mountain Fibers

2oz of hand dyed firestar from WC Mercantile

1oz of hand dyed firestar from Rhinofluff! (previously called Traveling Rhinos)

I also got a crock pot, specifically for fiber dyeing! Gah, I'm so excited.

leonidas the lion!

Meet Leonidas the Lion! He's a crafty little lion that, right now, is exceptionally fond of his seat of honor on top of my dresser.

I added up the amount of time it took to make him today (a friend had asked me) and I'd say 35 hours maximum. Aka enough time that, if my friend doesn't appreciate Leonidas, I'm going to kick him in the shins and keep him to myself!

I really would recommend Delicious Crochet patterns to anyone that enjoys making ridiculously cute things! The patterns are very in depth and include many pictures to guide you along. So go get some!

I've started my dinosaur as well!

Rawr! :D