Wow... a month

I know I haven't posted in about a month. The reason for that, I have done almost no knitting in the past month. I think I've done perhaps, 30 rows of knitting in the past few weeks. I have however, done quite a bit of sewing, which I'll get pictures of. I made my dad a pair of pj pants made out of elvis fabric. I have also made 3 pairs of toddler pj pants, 2 for little miss and another along with a tank top for my niece's 3rd birthday. That sadly, I didn't get a picture of before it was gifted. I also made a quilt as you go table runner in quilt class.

I'll do my best to get pictures of what I can, but mainly wanted to let my 2 followers that I'm still around. Tomorrow I start week 4 of my new job, which has been taking up all my free time. I hope that once I finish training this week, and start my regular hours the following week that I'll be able to get online more often.

Finally finished something

Yesterday little miss spent the day with her grandparents, which gave me plenty of time to get a few things finished around the house and to knit. We are silly people and decided we could pack our house in a week and move 1/2 across the state. I spent the morning sorting through 2 of our largest junk traps and got rid of over 1/2 of their contents, then packed what remained. I see no problem getting the rest of our house packed by Wednesday at the latest. That even includes packing my craft supplies!

I spent the afternoon knitting. A sane person would have kept packing while there was no little one around to make a mess. Well obviously, I'm not sane! Sat down with 2 projects and 2 movies. Finished the first sock for my little miss, then cast on for the 2nd while watching "Save the last dance" Proving that I'm even less sane I put in "The notebook" and started working on my fuzzy feet. And even though it's just simple knit I didn't get all that much done. Wiping tears away for at least 1/2 the movie takes time away from knitting. I cry like that each time I watch that movie. Heck, I even cried reading the book. I'm a huge sob for romantic chick flicks like that. My fuzzy feet are now almost done with the toe decreases. But I think I'm going to pick up stitches on the cast on/cuff and make it taller.

Then it's on to my wool socks. Which have flirted with the frog pond several times. They were going to be slipper socks for my mom for christmas. But then I realized that the yarn wasn't superwash. And would probably felt down to the size my daughter wears. This of course, after I had finished the first sock. So it sat for a while with one sock finished and another on the gusset decreases. Then I decided to test how much they would shrink if they were washed. So the finished sock went in with 2 different loads of laundry that were washed with hot water. And while it was a little smaller, it still fit perfectly. Now I'll finish the 2nd sock and wash it just like the 1st so they are even.

K.A.D.D

I have on any given day 2-3 hours of knitting time while Little Miss is at school. Then an hour or so at night. So you'd think that someone with this much knitting time would get a few things done. I get alot of partial things done. I get bored easy, does not matter if it's it's a beautiful pattern with an interesting stitch pattern or a simple pattern that I can do while watching TV. Add in a bad case of second sock syndrome and you guessed it, we have a problem.
Yesterday the project list looked like this:

• ABC blanket - crochet - probably 1/3 of the way done.
  
• BICO - crochet - Just need to do the left side and then seam and edge
• Fuzzy feet - knit - Have the 1st one almost to the toe
  
• Shortie socks - knit - 1st sock is done, 2nd is finished with the toe cap
• Little Miss hosue socks - knit - almost to the toe on the 1st one
• Whattamelon Summer socks - knit - working top down working on gusset decreases
• Up, Up and away - knit - Got past the heel and working on cuff

Last night I was able to get the up up and away socks pretty close to being done. My design and was loving it! I designed a double guesst heel that hits wonderfully. Started the pattern again on the back of the sock on my way up the cuff. Tried it on, and didn't get it on past the ball of my foot. I almost cried! I ripped it off the needles and emailed my test knitter to stop knitting while I figured out a cure. And most knitters know that once your in the frogging mood, it doesn't take much for another project to follow the path. My summer socks also went the way of the dodo. For some reason I started working them cuff down, with a garter stitch heel. I LOVED how it looked, even hubby liked it. But working the gusset decreases just drove me NUTS. So I ripped it back and I'm thinking I may start the same pattern over but toe up like the pattern is written.

But because I have knitters ADD, I'm already thinking of other projects that I can cast on to those empty needles. The fun never ends.....

The patterns in my head

For years I could not read a crochet pattern. I'd look at all the wonderful pattern books and love the pictures. But then I'd look at the pattern and give up. Then one day, sat myself down and decided to read that pattern no matter what. I don't know why I waited so long, it's not all that hard. But it set the stage for my pattern designing. Before I learned to knit, I had made several crochet patterns. Most were modifications to other patterns, or came from the need to make my life a bit easier. My closed start afghan came about because I loved the look of the star-ghans that everyone was doing but hated the huge hole in the middle. Didn't seem like a good idea when given the blanket to small children. So I came up with my own design.

I've found the same thing with my knit designing. My first knit design was for a baby/toddler sock. Done in worsted weight yarn, it was quick to knit up and was great for the little bits of yarn I had left over from other things. The sizing was a different story. It came out to be more of a toddler sock when the aim was for a baby sized one. So a fingering weight version is in the works. And maybe even one sized for a matching pair for mom.

I just recently released a new pattern on Ravelry, Mini Cables and Diamonds (a link can be found in the side bar.) I was worried about offering a pattern for sale but decided to jump in to it. Within 48 hours, the pattern had 6 sales. Which was pretty good I'd say. The future will decide if it's a long lasting pattern or if it fades away. Similar to that pattern, is a new one I released to testing just this morning. Up, Up, and Away is a snug fitting sock meant to hug your feet even at the end of the day. Because who wants to come home from work with loose fitting hand knit socks because they've relaxed during the day? I woudln't! I hope to have this pattern up for download by Mid-March.

March will probably be the craziest month of the year. Hubby and I found new jobs, only thing is they are 2.5 hours away from our current location. So a move is in order. Which also means getting our Little Miss into a new school. It's a good move for our family and will allow us to live the way we want to financially. And there are several LYS in the area! Along with a great knitting group that I can't wait to get together with.

How I started to craft... a long journey!

As a young girl, I was taught how to crochet chains by an older woman who would watch me while mom was working. I was 5 years old at the time and thought it was pretty cool. We'd sit there, her working on complex projects and myself on making miles of chains, all while watching old black and white Zorro episodes. I lost interest in it quickly, as most 5 year old kids do. Then at either 8 or 9, we moved into an apartment above a woman who also crocheted. She taught me how to make magic pot holders that soon covered our kitchen. As you can guess, I quickly got tired of this and set it aside both physically and mentally.

Around my sophomore year in high school, something sparked my interest again. I went to the store and got a learn to crochet kit. It had a few hooks as well as patterns and ideas. I started a panel afghan for my parents. It even followed me to college where it lived in my lounge chair and served as a cushion a few times. Picked it up off and on but never finished it. It was at that time I met Chris, my then boyfriend and now husband. Of course, really cute military guys are a lot more fun to be spending time with then scratchy walmart yarn and cold metal hooks. So again it was set off to the side. Until, I was put on strict bed rest while pregnant with our daughter. I bought a softer baby yarn and made a blanket, hat and bootie set for her. From there, I was "hooked". bad pun I know

I started making baby blankets and slippers. It was a great stress relief when my husband went over seas on a military contract job. Several family members loved being on the receiving end of my crocheting skills and even had a few requests for project to be made for others. Then thankfully the hubby came home safe and I was still crocheting. I opened up a small yarn store in our small town and had pretty good business. I gave beginning crochet lessons and a few custom orders. Sadly, the shop was closed that same year when the landlord wished to change directions of her shop, offering more room for antiques and such. Which wasn't the ideal place for my brightly colored yarns and projects. I crafted once again for myself and family. Then I was offered a deal of a life time. The opportunity to make ripple blankets for a spa in Texas. I was asked to use a specific yarn and colors and to make the blankets large enough to fit the beds in the resorts rooms. And even the pay was great. The spa understood the time and effort needed to make such a large project. I was able to make 3 blankets by the deadline and the extra money was wonderful. Especially since I was a stay at home mom at the time.


I started to make a few shirts for my beanpole daughter. I had made a few sets of slippers and house socks but hated crocheting foot-ly items. So what the heck, I taught myself how to knit. But because I'm stubborn, I jumped right into knitting socks. I figure, if I want a blanket I can crochet it a lot faster. If I want to make toys or clothes, I'll crochet them. Socks are a whole different story. Then of course, once I started knitting I became what some would call a yarn snob. Only wanting to work with wool and not wanting to touch the scratchy and squeaky acrylic that used to be my go to yarn.

Now, oh my gosh, I swear wool and circular needles are the frame work for my body. If I go more than 24 hours without knitting a row or 2, I start to have withdrawal symptoms. I've thought about knitting sweaters or baby blankets, but they take too long and I lazy. I know I will eventually take the plunge and knit things besides socks. I've slightly strayed, and knit a cozy for my iTouch.

As if all this wasn't enough, I also design my own patterns. Both crochet and knit, although knit patterns are my focus right now. Right now my patterns are only available on Ravlery. But at some point, they may make their way over to this blog. LAUGHLOVEnKNIT designs The link will only work if you have joined Ravelry. And if you haven't, then go sign up. It takes a less than a few days to get the invite and is well worth the wait. I was on the list for several months before getting my invite. And now it's a huge time suck, I mean such a great resource for my addictions, I mean hobbies. You can also make your way over to my projects and see other pictures of finished items.

To make a long story short, too late! I knit, crochet, sew, quilt, and scrapbook. And have stashes for all to last me a few years. I'm also a mom and wife. And hopefully now, a blogger!