A Crochet Memo

A Crochet Memo
Here is Debb's version of "My Crochet Memo".
She plans on adding and changing this "Memo" monthly.
Copy it and take it to your blog and link back to her!
Have fun with this Memo!!!!

What is your favorite pattern/project? Right now its bags/totes/purses, but I want to do sock, but am impateiently waiting on my sock yarn.

What project are you working on now? Well I Just finished up 2 bags, I still have 2 bags to make, Stitch markers to make and whatever else comes along or catches my eye.

Who inspired you to start to crochet? We learned through school and then my mom wanted me to teach her how. It was only a granny square, but its what started my years of crocheting.

Are you in a local group? Nope, just me, myself & I

What is your favorite yarn? For felting would be a definate Patons Wool & SWS. NOro felted nice but I don't want to break anymore hooks...lol Don't really have a favorite one.

What type of hooks do you use? crystalites and standard aluminum

How big is your stash? Oh gosh, its all over the place at the moment, keep finding more as I try to get it all together...lol

Where do you keep your stash? A- Um well...have some on my bookcases, dresser full in spare room, two box's in my bedroom, probably more in those roll around drawer thingies and do have some ordered coming in yet...lol

What is your favorite color? Purple's, Turquoise, Black/white, Lime Green, Blues..like alot just not a fan of orange

Rate your crochet addiction from 1-10. I'm with Debb in saying 12!!! as I am a Crochetoholic!!!! :)

Consider yourself tagged! SO copy and take it over to your blog NOW!

Finally Done

Wow, it sure took me a long time to do the little bit left to finish these 2 bags. I've been playing with these 2 for the longest time it seems like...lol But I'm glad to say I finished up my Entrelac (crochet) and this other bag using Noro. This was my first time using Noro and boy, was I ready to pull hair out & scream with this stuff..lol I now call Noro, "yuck" yarn as it is thin & thick all through the skeins/hanks. I even broke my new "J" Crystalite hook :( Very scratchy like too, but I will say it sure felted nicely! Just needs a little shave. The before pictures are up top (hopefully blogger has them there) and after pictures are near the bottom hopefully...lol

The Entrelac after felting I noticed a hole, so I put it towards the back and hopefully will remember to fix it. :) I have no clue how it got there, wasn't there before, but hopefully won't be hard to fix. I will say that next time I make either of these bags, I will make them bigger. I'm really surprised they aren't smaller, but glad they aren't either..lol The Entrelac after felting is only roughly 9" H by 9 1/2" W. Unfortunately I do not have a prefelt size.
Next is a bag I was just playing around with while waiting for different swaps to start.. I now call it my "yuck" bag..lol only because of the mess I have had using Noro. The pattern is from the picture of part of the book its laying on (up in the prefelt pic) called "Crochet Purses". I knew this baby wasn't gonna be to big after felting and almost thought I'd be giving it my grand-daughter, but it really didn't shrink as much as I thought it would, but sure felted nice! I do need to shave it a bit I think and the size after felting is 9 1/2 " H x 12" W in the middle part of the bag. Again, silly me didn't measure before felting.... I really hope to redo both bags eventually, I do have other swaps going and a couple starting, but usually the more on my plate, the more I get done...lol Drop me a comment and let me know what you think, I really would love to have other opinions.

Do hope everyone enjoys the rest of the Holiday Weekend! I know I am!

Contest 2 Final Question

Okay, ya'll, so here is the final 'challenge' in the 2nd contest. You'll have until May 29th for this one, and then we'll have some winners on the 30th.Easy one:
Go visit some blogs for people who are participating in this swap. Find THREE people that you have something in common with - BESIDES the fact that you knit ;)Make a post linking to those 3 blogs, and tell what it is you have in common with the person on that blog!

Okay, I came up with alot more gals that I have anything in common with...lol but here are 4 just in case...lol
1- Anne M- we have a love for coffee, Chocolate and the even the way we eat M & M's..lol
2- Cathy H- we both are gonna be the BIG 50 this year..neener, neener :)
3. Laurie C- we both have military in our lives..her more than I (we're retarded now :) )
and just in case that one didn't count I have to go with
4- JoAnn P- again Chocolate, but we both have some of the same favorites sweets and we both collect lighthouses

Spring Into Summer Dishcloth Swap Received!

Oh my gosh, Look what surprise came in the mail!!

Goodies in a Bottle!

Many Thank you's go out to "Cathy" as she turned out to be my secret swap partner....VERY, very clever and Neener, Neener? Better watch it "young" lady and I can say that being older than you...so neener, neener back at ya... lol Loved it Cathy, your something else. I have to laugh as I sent her an email cause I couldn't open this bottle....lol whole time sitting here pulling off tape, (Someone was very tape happy) laughing at myself, BUT I figured it out (HA) and here are the pic's to prove it... I love everything and had a ball taking out all my goodies. Everything smells wonderfully! ( soap leaked just a lil bit..lol) But thats okay, She spoiled me with my Chocolate Bar, a Lighted Crochet Hook (how neat & can't wait to try it as I have been wanting to try them, Thank you, Thank you!), not 1 dishcloth but 2, there are 3 different size scrubbies with pattern (free of course). Peach scented Soap and it smells Great and a skein of Red Cotton! (how did you know I needed 1 more to add from another swap for a project?) I"m just a happy little camper at the moment and so surprised who my partner was..couldn't figure her out :) Good Job Cathy!! (I have your address now girl :) ) Many Thanks, you really made my day!! Hope your partner is just as good to you!!

Contest #2 Question #3

And now for this week's question:

Where's your favorite place to knit or crochet? Describe (or show!) us where you sit and how you most enjoy your craft!Since I goofed and posted this late, you'll have until Wednesday of next week, and then I'll post the final question!

Thought I would show a picture of where I sit most the time when I'm crocheting...Seeings my desk is cleaned off still as we just put the new bookcases in and I haven't decided all what I want on them from my "stuff" upstairs..I know I want my "stuff" close by, just have to go bring it down now. With the new bookcases I have more shelf space now and its gonna be nice now to have it more accessible :) I use to have a craftroom upstairs but had to turn it back to a spare room, but I think this is nicer now as I have all my friends and my "stuff" in my own little corner..lol Which looking at the pic I have to address that box..its my first package to my Felted Spring Bag partner and its ready to go out as soon as I write a note.

Don't Want To Grow-up!

Seeings I'm coming up on this pretty quick, I thought I'd post it just for fun ..LOL

Didn't think about posting it on the blog when I emailed it out to a few people..then I hit blogland and found it on Cathy's blog :) It started my day off with laughing and smiles! (your right behind me on this one girl!!)

I just hope that its a good one for both of us and anyone else who won't admit to it!! (hec, its just a number) Mind over matter, you don't mind, it won't matter...lol

Unexpected Surprise Package

Look at all the beautiful things I received in a surprise package that came yesterday all the way from Australia!! Even the package it was shipped in is great! THANK YOU oh so very much Christine for your special Thank you kindness. (you reallly didn't have to, but love it!) I never had anyone send me a Thank You package so I'm kinda floored for words. Thank you seems so little to say, especially with everything so beautiful! The card, the little gifts (named bookmark, buttons, beads, note paper/envelopes, chocolate covered expresso beans and a chocolate carmel package that I had to put in frig for a bit), the Bag, Oh how Beautiful the bag is!! The color is a deep purple so rich looking and just the right size. (I need to know what yarn this is?) Everything is purple :) You spoiled me with your sweet Thank you kindness and I hope you know that my Thank you comes from the heart!

(for those that don't know, Christine was the gal I made an Angel tote for in ITEIII, my now new Aussie friend- She's great!)

Chan's Contest (Summer dishcloth Swap)

Now, a contest. I live near a college town, so this is a time of transition in so many ways. Still, it's hard not to feel the energy and hope shining off all of the graduates, and the students heading off on their summer adventures.

So, what gives you hope? Looking up at the star everynight gives me lots of hope. I'm also finding recently that some of my "new pals" are actually giving me more hope than they or myself even realize :)

How do you recharge and get energized when you're feeling drained? I use to follow along with a Yoga video/CD I have, but its been along time since doing that, but I do find myself at times outback at night with the dogs that something happens..I wind up staring off either at the stars (and you can see millions of them out here) or staring off in the direction of my Angel statue and just somehow get a total different feeling, kinda hard to explain but it like a calming effect and that being outside I am one with my surroundings, even sometimes pettings the dogs gets me in a rethinking state of mind.

And what is your favorite summer adventure, whether it's a memory or an item on your agenda for this year or both? I'd have to go with an Adventurous Memory here...lol It was May of 94 before Mike retired from the military. We took a road trip with some other H.O.G. members (neighbors) of ours. We usually would go to Washington DC for "Ride to the Wall" every year, but this one year some of us got tickets to see Willy Nelson up in Conneaut Lake, PA. So we loaded down our Harleys and rode, rode, rode...(we were in Chesapeake, Va at that time about 14 miles north of NC so it wasn't close by). I called it the Iron Butt Contest for some of us as we only stopped a couple times to give the butt rest, but we made it and camped out all Memorial Day weekend. We mostly stayed close to the campground, taking in some of the lazyiness and shade, but lucked out it was right across the street from the park where the concert was going to be and it just happen to be a theme park too...Yep, you guessed it, we rode rides most the day, most the weekend and had the time of our lives being kids again. We also walked around some of the shops, checked out the bike shows and even the local Harley dealer had "test drives new harleys" all weekend, which is where my oldest son spent all his time. (only time being a mom I didn't have to worry where he was and good thing my helmet fit him). We had lots of play time as the concert wasn't till Sunday. We have a video tape somewhere as we always had one in the group that made sure there were pcitures of some kind..lol We got burnt, we were tired, but it was the best Memorial Day weekend we all had in a long time. They still talk about it even now...thinking back always brings a smile to my face..we sure were a bunch of crazy people that holiday!

June Tote/Beach Bag Kit Swap Questions

Do you like bigger or smaller tote/beach bags? Medium to Large is fine
Do you like bright colors? Dislike colors? Like Bright colors, but no orange
Do you like plastic handles or other? perfer long handles, I'm a throw over the shoulder type gal
Do you like knit or crochet bags? crochet, fabric/Sew or even Macrame...I'm not a knitter :(
What do you put in your tote/beach bags? Sometimes project I'm working on (which is always) as far as beach, been a long time but just about whatever you can think of and more...lol

If you need more info just ask, I'm real easy to please and love just about everything.

Dang, I've Been -Triple- Tagged!!! (corrected)

Chell, Channon & just added Cathy she just tagged me for the same one..lol

Here's who I had tagged:
Christine , Laurie C , Patsy , Shawnee , Bonnie , Leslie , Crochetoholic Debb

1. When I have money in my wallet, I always make sure it all faces the same direction & low to high bills
2. I seperate & eat my M & M's by colors and yes I always save the all Chocolate ones for last eat them color at a time
3. I have a certain way I like to fold my towels and will refold if not folded the right way...lol Silly, huh? Will straighten out if messed up
4. no matter where I am I'll straighten out a crooked picture & I hate when I see tags sticking up out of shirts...lol
5. I'm not afraid of heights or anything, but I go nuts when I see kids leaning over railings at two story malls, don't know why it just bothers me and I tend to lean back..lol
6. I like nuts but I like them not in anything, like in chocolate or cakes...got to be seperate & salted
7. Most the time things have a certain place in my home and every now & then my family likes to move things just a little so they can see me go straighten it back out...lol I really hate schedules, but seems my dogs are use to one..lol

What can I say, I'm a nutty & weird ...lol

Contest #2 Question #2

Posting for my Felted Spring Bag Swap...this question is...
Where you live, what signifies the beginning of Spring? A favorite flower blooming? Snowmelt? Pollen (Cough cough, gak, here in ATL, thanks) Post something up describing how you knew 'Spring had Sprung' for you!

LOL your not alone with the pollen in GA Anne...lol Almost the same here in the desert except we know its spring when we turn off the heaters and turn on the air conditioners...lol We skip spring sometimes and go right to summer !! LOL Flowers are no clue here as most do bloom year round, but alot of the times the tree's are a dead give away. The ones that lose their leaves in the fall/winter start sprouting new ones and then our water restrictions give us more days..lol :)

Entrelac in crochet started

Well I finally started my crochet Entrelac Bag pattern...at first I wasn't sure how the colors would look, but as I'm adding more rows of blocks I think it will be okay...Sure would love other opinions on this so if you could,

please comment.....

I'm posting 2 pics, 1 using a flash and 1 without flash. As the flash one looked washed out..I'm sure the hot water felting will probably do that too, huh? lol Well I'm gonna get back to adding more onto it, please let me know what you think? I'll post a before & after felting pic when I get it done..It is going fast and oh soooooooo easy to do, wonder why I didn't do it sooner, like when I first bought the pattern...lol happy Crocheting/Knitting you all!!!

Lady's Creativenss

Just thought I'd share a pic of what I found yesterday morning while getting ready for work...wondered why Lady was not pestering me upstairs and was awlful quiet and not chasing Dyna(younger cat) as uausal. I see Lady does has some more creativeness and I do believe she had help from one of my cats this time....I have been pretty good at putting my yarn away but do have a couple balls of yarn laying close by. Usually if I find a yarn ball on the floor in the morning its from Electra (older cat) who was playing during the night, but when its so creative like this...lol its usually my demonoid here that found it before mom and decided to play too. I had to laugh as I picked it up real quick and was yet Thankful it wasn't any of my new yarn or a fuller skein. This pic is't half as bad as others have been from some of Lady's other creative endevors, but its the only one I have so far. I only wish I had pic's of some of her other creatvieness or even better, a pic of her pitiful face...lol Here she is just too cute and too smart for her britches, but its not totally all her fault this time. I am sure it won't be the last either.

Contest #2 Question #1

Spring Felted Bag Contest 2 Quesion #1

This Week's Question:

How did you get interested in felting? Did you learn it from someone, see a bag you liked? Just want to try something new? If you have a picture of your first project, please include it!

I got interested in felting when I joined the International Tote Exchange (ITEIII). After seeing all the drop-jaw gorgeous bags from links posted I knew I wanted to try it. Seemed most every blog you visited too, there was a felted bag of some kind..lol My only problem was tyring to find a felted bag in Crochet to do this felting with as I don't knit. I did find some eventually in crochet but I lucked out with one of my crochet magazines that had just come in and Wa-La, there it was..the bag I was going to try this felting with as I was running out of time (in case I messed up)....lol I even made it bigger than it called for. I needed tote size for a partner in that exchange as she wanted to be able to carry lots of stuff...lol

I've been making bags since and love to do the felted bags. I'm just amazed at the difference in some of the colors and yarns and how it all blends together and "no holes"!!!

I've done 3 felted bags now, cause I had one bag only half felt....I was experimenting... Plus my DIL liked it and wanted it and took it home...lol This blue tote is my very first felted bag I made for ITEIII and the purplish (looks kinda pinkish here) was a test pattern for a friend almost the same time as the tote exchange.....Oh and I have this purse pattern I bought to make for myself, but used it for an "Angel Tote"

for a partner who didn't get her bag in the ITEIII I only wish I

could've found what they call "Mock Croc" so I could finish it like the pattern picture looked like..lol But I tried to dress it up a bit on the pockets. I'm not near done making bags...I am totally hooked on making & felting them :) I love pockets too so will be experimenting more...lol I do have other books coming and then my next step will be to change them and make one more personable.

Can't wait to get this Spring Felted Swap bag going, so with that I'm outta here to yarn hunt :) so have a good one!!