Not Quite Vintage

recharging

I have been trying to write a post all week, but the words just aren’t coming. February was crazy busy with deadlines and when March came, I was left tired and feeling uncreative. I have a partially finished overdue quilt block for Katie on my sewing machine, a messy craft area and a long list of to dos. But I had to take a break, even if it was unintentional.

I have been trying to recharge and refocus this week and hope to be back at the crafting this weekend and blogging next week. For now, here are a few in progress pictures of my current crochet project – about the only creativity I have been taking part of over the past few weeks because I can easily pick it up while vegging out on the sofa.

Till next week my friends. Have a great weekend.

one square down, one to go

This weekend I made some major progress on my granny square pillow - I finished one side and am about halfway finished with the second side. I really hope to finish the back by my class on Wednesday so I can get my teachers input while I crochet them together. The square looks a bit wonky right now, it will look much better once I block it.

And waiting patiently for me to finish my pillow is this pretty rainbow of yarn. It really can't wait to become a colorful tote.

A friend started a bag just like this over the weekend and I am dying not to be working on mine too. I WILL finish my pillow first, I promise.

procrastinating and crochet coasters

I know I said this in my last post, but it has been a really busy, crazy time for me. I have been working on a couple  projects that are due next week. You have seen glimpses here and here. Working on these projects has had me a bit overwhelmed when combined with lots of work, a department move (came in to a new workspace today), taking care of my Pops and an intense desire to spend all my time crocheting. I know crocheting is just my way of procrastinating, but I had to give into it last night while watching a packed primetime on ABC. I crocheted up a few coasters out of leftover cotton yarn.

A couple are for my new desk... And one is for my friend Ang to brighten her new desk too.

I am liking circles so much I may have to try this for my next project.

catching up and some granny square practice

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I last posted - it wasn't at all intentional. I have been crazy busy at work and at home lately, mix that with extreme tiredness and you get a sick day on Friday. It was so nice to catch up on sleep and to have a lazy day on the sofa with embroidery hoop in hand. I wish I had more opportunities for days like that.

Valentine's Day for this single girl was spent with her Pops and Miss Molly - I really couldn't ask for better valentines. Pops loved his hug, although I think Molly really wanted it to be her softie - she was eying it all night with her big brown expressive eyes. I really should have made her a dog-sized one I guess... maybe next time.

My DVR is all but clear too - I was struggling to find good things to watch yesterday while crocheting. Luckily it will fill back up this week with new episodes of House, Chuck, Heroes and LOST.

I have been struggling to decide what my next crochet project will be. I don't want to be overwhelmed with an extra large project, would love to do something in bright spring colors, but am just not sure yet. So in the meantime, I decided to practice my granny squares by making a couple huge grannies and turn them into a pillow cover. I had some yarn in my stash that matches my sage green furniture and decided to to get started yesterday afternoon. You know, I always figured grannies would be hard, but they are actually pretty easy.

in bloom clutch without the "bloom"

I finished my first real crochet project last night... all except for the flower for the front. It is the In Bloom Clutch from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet.

I really like how it turned out and had the perfect fabric for the lining in my stash - a scrap of Flea Market Fancy. I may add a flower later, possibly as a pin. I did venture into crocheting flowers last night, but not until after I took photos of the clutch.

I used Vanna's Choice yarn in steel blue. The project took less than one skein. As I was crocheting, I added a few rows to the body to make the bag a bit deeper. Glad I did, without it, I am not sure I would have been able to fit anything in it. Finished size 11 x 6 1/2 inches.

Tonight is crochet class. My teacher promised me granny squares tonight - I am excited!

quilt block sketches and a coaster

Last night I got a little antsy waiting to go to crochet class, so I pulled out my notebook to do a little brainstorming for the Pieced Together Quilting Bee. February is Katie's month and she sent us some pretty fun fabrics... but the colors are a little out of the box for me, so I am a bit nervous. Other participants are already posting their amazing block in our Flickr group - wow, they are really quick. Luckily, seeing their blocks totally got things clicking in my brain and I really think I can do this now!

Crochet class was a bit crazy. Everyone had questions for our teacher and one of the knitters in class kept monopolizing her time with "mistakes" she wouldn't catch for rows and rows. Our teacher was quite funny with her so it was entertaining, but it was also distracting. I was able to get her attention for long enough to get some pointers for crocheting in a circle. I had a pattern for coasters from the Cozy Crochet Kit that I really wanted to try, but I couldn't quite figure out how 11 double crochets could actually fit in one chain. Crazy, but they do! I was able to finish one coaster even with all the distractions around me - I find it really hard to count when people are talking around me, I can handle tv, but not real live people :) I see more of these coasters in my future.

a winner... and more crochet practice

Goodness, sorry for the delay in posting the winner of the apple crochet roll - it is Paula from Hearty Works! My cube-wall-sharing friend Carlos was kind enough to pick a winner for me last Friday, but I forgot to post before I took a computer break for the weekend. Congrats Paula, the crochet roll is in the mail.

This weekend I spent a bunch of time practicing crochet again. I am really enjoying it. I completed another dishcloth - this time in half double crochet and with stripes! I tried a couple techniques for changing colors - one from my crochet book and one from YouTube. The one from YouTube worked best. So, I have one perfect stripe and one not so perfect stripe. Oh well, the dishcloth will still work just as well.

I also started a cute bag - one like Dawn gave me for Christmas 2007. It seemed like a great way to practice and it is working up really quickly. I will post pictures when I am finished.

Stay tuned for more this week - I am planning on posting a tutorial for a project I made a long time ago. Hopefully my camera will be delivered to day so I can take pretty pictures for it.

all finished

My first crochet project is all finished and surprise, it is a dishcloth! You all know that I love knitting dishcloths and now I can mix it up with crochet. It was a perfect way to practice and I really love the results. It took me a really long time to actually use my first knit dishcloth - I wonder how long it will take me to break down and use this one. For now, it is sitting pretty in my Gram's fiesta sweets compote.

Crochet class is canceled tonight - snow day (I measured 7.5 inches on my front porch this morning). This means I am going to have to venture out on my own to learn a new stitch to keep me busy for the next week... thank goodness I have my handy crochet book for reference.

And good news, I ordered a new camera yesterday, so pretty soon I will have better focused photos with more realistic color (the sweets compote is orange, well technically "red," but not quite on-fire orange) and less noise. Yay! I am really excited. It took me over a month to choose a camera. I wanted to make a frugal yet fabulous decision. I was torn between a less expensive model that would simple replace my old camera and a step up model that would give me the opportunity to grow a little, be happy for longer and hopefully stop my digital SLR lust. I chose the step up model and can't wait for it to be delivered.

crochet hook roll - a giveaway

Last night I decided to switch gears from practicing single crochet to sewing. Actually, I didn't totally switch gears away from crochet because I decided to whip up a couple crochet hook rolls.

I pulled out a good ol' Martha Stewart dishtowel with apples on it. I have been hoarding a few of these towels for a while. I didn't even use them in my massive holiday sewing project - they are really hard to give up, but the cheery green apples were perfect for the project and helped brighten up a very snowy evening.

Less than an hour after I started, I had two pretty crochet hook rolls. One will soon be on its way to its recipient... and the other could be on its way to you! Just comment on this post by noon CST Friday with the top three things on your Crafty To Do List and I will pick a winner.

And I promise it looks better and brighter in person than in the picture I took with my iPhone... I am seriously ordering a new camera today.

practice, practice, practice

I took my crochet teachers advice and have been practicing, practicing, practicing single crochet this weekend. I pulled out some of my very favorite cotton yarn and made a couple, well I will call them, coasters. Then after that I decided I would try for a single crochet dishcloth - I am about 2/3 of the way finished with the dishcloth and I think I pretty much have single crochet down now. I am really impatient to learn more, luckily Wednesday is only two days away!

And on Saturday, I even snuck to Michaels and took advantage of their $1 sale and picked up a few more skeins of cotton yarn. Yes, I know I didn't really need it, but how could I pass it up? As the sales associate said, it will "keep me out of trouble."