Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Crafty Tuesday: Of unexpectedly angry birds, and sock yarn obsessions...

Well, look at me go, two Crafty Tuesday posts in a row. I go in fits and spurts though, kwim? Whatever is bouncing around in my little head at any given point in time is what I write about here on this blog. Right now, that's crafty stuff. And so here we are!

Based upon my holiday crafting post from last Tuesday, I set up my Ravelry gallery with all the projects queued up, plus other fall/winter knits that I'd like to get to.

#overlyambitious

YEAH, there are a lot of projects in the queue. Plus I added a few more (my sister asked for a shawl for Christmas, I mean, all for love!). As I took stock of this wall of to-be-completed projects, I decided that I'd try to finish a few things quickly, to give me confidence. So that my spirit would not falter. ;-)

Thus, this weekend I worked quite a bit on my Abbey Pullover. I'm on the yoke, this girl is nearly finished. The yoke is lace, so it's slower going, but it's going. The precious little churches in the cloister lace are nearly all formed!


Smoke was nearly coming from my needles this weekend, I was working so studiously. Then I ran out of yarn.

*panics*

Don't panic! ;-) I have another skein, I just didn't have it with me, whew! It's in my, ah hem, *work stash*. That would be the drawer in my office filing cabinet that is filled with yarn rather than papers. Why are you looking at me like that, doesn't everybody do this?!

*adjusts glasses angelically*

ANYWAY, I had to pause until I could grab that last skein of yarn, but I'm near the top of the lace chart. A gold star goes on my assignment sheet.

So then I took a look at the projects in my queue. If I can whip a few small ones out quickly, that will decrease my incomplete number quickly (which is now hovering around 20, eeks!) and soothe me a bit. So I decided to crochet the baby bird Anne has been asking for.

I love crocheting animals, very enjoyable and cute. I don't love *knitting* animals as much. There are parlor cats who will not be named that are a direct result of this situation. But crochet is all good. So I found a free pattern from one of my favorite designers, Teri Crews, and set to work yesterday. 

I was finished in under two hours. Teri's bird is blue, but Anne wanted a red bird. And this is the result:


So, YEAH. He's cute, right? BUT decidedly more Angry Birds than I was going for. When I gave him to Anne, who has never seen an Angry Bird a day in her life, she took him, kissed his beak, named him Bugaboo, and then examined her new baby very carefully:

"Mommy. How come he looks so...mad?"

"He's just a very serious birdie, sweetie."

"Is he sad?"

"No, he's happy! He's just worried about things. It isn't easy being a bird. He has to worry about flying south come fall."

She seemed to accept this explanation and worked diligently to introduce him to her other animals so that he would feel included. ;-)

One project down!

Later Sunday evening, I was sitting beside Mike casting on for a new hat while we watched TV. I was getting gauge but not real happy with the fabric, and contemplating dropping down a needle size, when he asked me about sock yarn in fall colors.

Hark! My darling is asking not only about yarn, but sock yarn that is not plain black or navy blue?

*swoons*

"Yeah, just for around the house. Kind of like retro 70's colors? That would be kind of fun. Do you have any yarn like that?"

"No, but I SHOULD!!!"

*spends the next 30 minutes in frantic search on my phone "for research"*

"You don't have to worry about it if it's too..."

"WHAT?! No, no, I love this. I mean...I REALLY LOVE THIS."

He asks me about sock yarn and then says I don't have to actually do anything about it? Silly man!

I will conquer this particular self-striping quest, I know I will. I have found a few contenders and have a consult scheduled with Mike for tonight. ;-) The only problem is...

...this adds one more project to my queue.

Oh. Right. Sigh.

What are you working on this week, friends? Trying to finish some projects up before starting your holiday crafting for the year? Do tell me all about it in the comments. *beams*

10 comments:

  1. Your sweater is lovely. Part of me is drawn to kitting, but have never been especially patient, so I tend to stick to sewing with the occasional small crochet project. I need a few new pairs of pants and have all the supplies purchased, by the time will likely be carved out when I buck up the nerve to pull a near all nighter. Toddlers and machines with whirring sewing needles don't mix well.

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    1. Amy, thank you so much! And wow, you sew! I cannot. :) I can do buttons, & quick costume fixes, but that's it. I understand about the time commitment, but do it & send photos!

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  2. And I have been stashing fabric since I was old enough to horde my mother's project scraps. So I know what you mean about repurposing desk drawers, cabinets and unused bathroom vanity drawers as project storage;)

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    1. I would anticipate that I would be the same way should I sew and/ or quilt. :) This is why I try to limit my number of hobbies. ;-) I already have enough yarn & dance costumes to clothe a village.

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  3. Oh Tiffany- that pullover is gorgeous! And I love the little red bird- darling! I've never knitted (or crocheted) toys before but have long been intrigued by Susan B Anderson's "itty bitty toys" and her "topsy turvey inside out toys". Have you seen them? They're really quite clever!

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  4. Catherine, no I haven't, but I'm now going to go look, lol! You should try! Have you attempted knitting or crocheting in the past? I could always help you out! Listen to my next Tea Time episode for more on this (episode 6). :) The toys are fun and make great gifts.

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  5. *raises hand*

    My name is Katherine, and I'm a craftaholic.

    *chorus* Hi, Katherine!

    ;)

    Yep, though I am at least making progress. I have friends with babies due in August, September, November, and December, which means quilts. Lots of baby quilts. Soft, snuggly, baby quilts. Baby August's is finished, Baby September's just needs binding, I only found out yesterday that Baby November is a girl, so I have some excuse there, and I'm still waiting to find out the gender of Baby December. But--urk!--I want all these quilts finished before November so that I can spend November and December doing holiday crafts.

    As for holiday crafting...heh. First up is a Jesse Tree, because I am apparently completely insane. (Ideally, I'd like to start this no later than October.) After that...we'll see.

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  6. Hi Katherine!!! So nice to see you. :) Ohhhh, QUILTS! I *really* wish I knew how to do this. Someday! Your baby quilts sound divine. My aunt made each of my kids a quilt and we treasure them. Anne sleeps with hers every single night.

    I crocheted lambs for a Jesse Tree exchange a few years ago. It was fun, but man. :) Time intensive! Have you made your holiday list of crafty gifts? That always helps to motivate me to get the *other* projects done, so that I can work on those!

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  7. I haven't made an official list yet, no. :) If the first Jesse Tree goes well, I may make a second for my goddaughter, though I'm debating on whether or not to wait another year or two. (She's three, and a very destructive three at that. ;) ) After that, I shall see where the crafting takes me. ;)

    My husband's family doesn't really exchange gifts (long story--8 kids, small house, they had to keep their sanity somehow), so I'm in the awkward position of not really having that many gifts to buy, make, or give. Clearly, Christmas cookies are the answer! Figuring out how I'll package them is my current project, when I'm not sewing. I used to wait until a few days after Christmas and then snap up lots of cookie tins at JoAnn's for a dollar or so apiece and use them the following Christmas, but I was busy last year (in Paris! Pretty good excuse, no? :D) and wasn't able to get there, and $10 for a cookie tin is *not* in Ye Olde Budget. Off to browse Pinterest some more...

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    1. Oh Katherine, you would be my best friend at Christmastime. :0 I *love* Christmas cookies, yet sadly, I cannot bake. At all. Even a little. ;-) Cookies are always an an outstanding gift! I wonder if the Dollar Store would have tins?

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