Marching FAST!

I'm taking a vacation day today & I've been very productive. I even submitted my last challenge for Nerd Was & HPKCHC for the month! Speedy. Here's March so far...

From top left:

Progress on the Tunisian Spiral - about 50% on 3/1

My first Tunisian Colorwork heart - 2 colors in one row = tricksy

I tried an afghan pattern called Wooleater. I like it but not enough for a blanket.

Adventures in yarn dyeing: I took a skein of white wool, knit & crocheted it into a long strip. Then I dyed that in three sections lengthwise with Koolaid - then I crocheted that into a Baktus with sideways stripes. Yay! Love it!!

My first try at "Stitch Diva's three color tunisian technique." Loved it! Neat effect, fast & easy!

Nineteen more yoyos to add to the big Yoyo Amoeba.

Also made a Tunisian washcloth.

In other news, February...

We've had a string of bad-weather Fridays and/or Saturdays. I had the great pleasure of hanging out with Elisha this past Saturday. We went to see "Escape from Planet Earth" after basketball, then came back home in snow. He reminded me of the importance of catching snowflakes.

Chuck gave me flowers for Valentines Day. Very pretty! They make me smile inside & out.

I've been crafting & working.  Not doing much of anything else.  Listening to the last book out of "Game of Thrones."

Lost the crown from one of my teeth - had to have the remaining pieces of tooth pulled last week. My jaw is still sore. It's hard to believe that the snowbirds will be home in less than two weeks. Hope they bring sunshine with them. I hope to teach Mom how to do Tunisan crochet - I think she'd like it.

February Rolling along

Thankfully, the rotten little month of February is on its way out. I have finished all my challenges for Nerd Wars & HPKCHC. I also have baby blankets to give to Amanda and Courtney. Yay me! Now I can work on a neat Tunisian crochet spiral blanket, make some yoyos to add to my growing yoyo amoeba of color, and figure out some projects to make for WIPs in March.

So far this month, I made (clockwise from top left):
* baby cowboy booties for Amanda's Willow
* a partial blanket motif that I decided I don't want to finish (it will be a doily)
* a second visor cozy for the ratty sun visor in my car (now I have two!)
* a frilly scarf/cowl/necklace
* a Tunisian short row cloth (fun, new pattern)
* a knitted hat in Super Bowl winner, Baltimore Ravens colors

And here's the extremely complicated, difficult crocheted cabled baby blanket for Courtney's baby. The pattern called for another five repeats, but I did six and decided that was enough. Hs was my OWL project for HPKCHC, so it's going to be a non-finisher for that, but I've had enough of this blanket.

Other January stuff...

January was mostly cold. We've had a streak of bad weather Fridays. Ice and/or snow. No accumulation. Just cold.

First pic: what these cash conscious dogs think of Chuck's debit card...

E continues to play basketball at the Y. I'm a faithful cheerleader.

We went out to Hurt & checked on the family manse. Chuck had to cut own a broken limb.

January 22nd marked six months with Lucky and Bella in our home. They have truly come so far from the trembling, terrified dogs we got. They make coming home from work a joyous occasion with barking, jumping around & seeming truly happy to see me. Maybe they just have to pee, but it ALWAYS improves my mood. Really, who rescued who? I love these babies!

I ended the month losing a crown (on a tooth)! Getting old sucks!

January 2013 Ravelry love

Plan is to post projects for the month that I posted to Ravelry for Nerd Wars or HPKCHC. January was NW hiatus - just HPKCHC stuff.

First was a little stuffy for a challenge.

I learned Tunisian crochet & made two Swiffer covers & two washcloths. Then I made a big square that I turned into a cover for my car visor!

the green scarf / shawl is a "Clapochet." Pretty, isn't it!

I'm working on a cabled blanket. It's driving me batshit crazy, but it's gorgeous.

More yoyos made, then I joined the first three batches together.

I wish I could caption each photo but I haven't figured out the Blogger app yet.

From Birthday to Anniversary

What on earth have I been doing since my birthday?  Knitting.  Crocheting.  That's about it.  Chuck tore down the little shed out back where the lawn mower lived, and he's rebuilding a BIG playhouse... um, workshop for himself.  Makes him happy & keeps him out of trouble.

Hmmm - when I went to find photos of what I've been doing, I was surprised at the LACK of pictures.  What's happening?  One reason is that I'm working on a knit/crochet sampler.  So those blocks by themselves aren't that exciting.  Save that for the finished project. 
Here are some other things I've been doing... 

The HPKCHC Challenge in November was to see how many hats you could make in a week, from November 3 to November 9th.  For me, the answer is TEN!  Ten chemo caps I've given to the oncologist's counselor.  All the same pattern ("Divine") and all but one are cotton.

These are crocheted yo-yos.  I plan on making a larger piece by adding more yo-yos, and having a final colorful project.  An afghan? baby blanket?  hmmm, we'll see...

I've been on a doggie sweater binge.  Here's Bella in her bumpy pink sweater.

Ssh, don't tell Hank, but here he is modeling his xmas sweater.  Something tells me he'll still be surprised when he opens his present on xmas.

 Here's Lucky in his blue-boy sweater.  Isn't he adorable!! I'm learning lots about garment construction - seriously - necks and collars and sleeves!  Who knew!  Many more are planned.

Here is Bella modelling the sweater I made for a secret Santa gift for an online group.  My recipient has several small dogs, I'm hoping the sweater will fit one or more.

 And here are my two favoritest people in the world.  Elisha asked me to teach him how to crochet this past weekend, so I said "Sure!"  However - I'm a righty and he's a lefty.  I couldn't figure out how it worked - despite watching youtube videos.  He made a chain, but it was very tight, very small gauge - he was not pleased.  So, I switched gears to teach him to finger knit.  Even with a broken wrist, he was focused and really got into making a scarf for his mom.  E loves his mom so very much.  I hope that relationship stays strong over the coming years.  He has such a sweet and gentle spirit.  Here's Jes modelling her new scarf!

Pre-birthday FO post

Recent FOs!  (Finished Objects)...  Some things I've made since the Ravellenic Games

Knit basketweave square for knit sampler I'm making

 Crocheted afghan squares

 Another knit square (I did NOT like making this one!!!)

And a Baby Babette blanket for a co-worker's new baby boy!