My Geeky Love of Project Planning

My Geek Confession

Yes, I am such a geek when it comes to being organized and planning! My daughter makes fun of me when I get excited about a spreadsheet or accounting program. What can I say? I'm a geek!!

So speaking of My Geeky Love of Project Planning, I found a gorgeous and I mean gorgeous tote bag pattern on Ravelry just the other day. I of course saved it into my Library, but I couldn't just leave it in there. I kept looking at it and pulling up everyone's project info. I really do not have the time or yarn to do the project right now. I have way too many other projects that I need to conquer and complete, but there isn't anything wrong with "planning the project", right?

The project is The Enchanted Garden Tote by Courtney Laube. Now this isn't just some ordinary tote it is definitely Enchanted!! You have to use 3 different patterns to complete this tote. Yes, you read correctly, 3 different patterns! It will be a challenge. I will have to only have this pattern on my docket when it comes time to begin.

Picture courtesy of AFwifeCrochetNut 

Picture courtesy of AFwifeCrochetNut

Now isn't that just a beautiful project!! I have printed all of the patterns, which came to over 100 pages. I placed them in a 3 hole folder with tabs. I have highlighted areas that I need to keep an eye on when I begin the project such as when to switch from pattern to pattern. Yes, you have to work with all 3 patterns at the same time. Like, you might need to use pattern 1 for rows 1 - 7 and then pattern 3 for rows 9-13 then back to pattern 1 for rows 14 - 16 and then pattern 2 for rows 17 - 21 and so forth and so forth. So I am definitely reading this complete project prior to beginning it.

I have actually set up its own board in my Pinterest account. I am looking at different color schemes and pinning other completed projects to this board. I just love the looks of this project and if the first one turns out great then I will make more as Christmas presents to a few of my sweet family members (only the sweet ones though)!

That is my Geek Confession for this week. Everyone have a great rest of the week!!

Cheers,

Winnie

Project Planning

Hello! Hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. All is well in my Creative Corner. I have been perusing Pinterest and Ravelry looking for the perfect projects to work on these next few weeks. I have to have knee surgery next week and will have plenty of down time to start and hopefully complete a couple of projects.

I have collected all the yarn and colors I want to work with and now I think I found the perfect projects.

Chevron Pattern found on the blog All Things Bright and Beautiful by Andrea Baker. I loved the pop of red she used on her afghan. I have been wanting to work up a chevron blanket but couldn't figure out a color scheme that I wanted. When I saw Andrea's with the red stripe between the bright white I knew I wanted to do one with red and white, then I saw this charcoal grey and those were my colors! If all works out well I will make a matching pillow to go with the afghan.

Picture courtesy of All Things Bright and Beautiful by Andea Baker

Textured Stripes Throw is a pretty simple looking pattern, but what drew me to it was that it uses the shell stitch to give it a very neat texture look. I'm planning on using the seafoam blue as a few accent stripes between the chocolate brown.

Picture courtesy of Laura Dyer on Ravelry. This is what she worked up using the Textured Stripes Throw Pattern by Marilyn Losee.

I am now at the design stage of my Rosie Posie Granny blanket. I try laying out the squares and figuring out a pattern on the floor, but I sometimes need a more precise breakdown. I came up with a template in MS Word that I use to configure a few different layout patterns. I have narrowed it down to two now and just need to make a decision. I will have enough left over squares to make a matching cushion. I have a few more squares I need to block and then I will begin joining the squares with the invisible join method. After I have all the joining complete I have to figure out a border and which colors to use. I really can't wait to see all these cute rosie posies all joined together!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Hopefully I will have a FO to share soon!!

I am linking up with Tami's blog today. Please check out other shared WIP's !

WIP - 3in1 Wrapper

Hello everyone! If you have read my blog enough, you know how much I love Pinterest. The other week I came across a great wrapper pin that I just had to find the pattern for. Luckily, it was a free online pattern through elann.com. You can also find it on Ravelry as well. I do love when I can keep track of my project through the Ravelry project page. It really is a project saver when you have stepped away from a project for awhile to be able to come back to it and know exactly what yarn and hook size you were using. It has saved me a few times.

It is called Crocheted Easy Rapper by Flora Yang. The yarn is only 1.75 oz, so a 4.5 hook. Unfortunately, I have lost do not have a 4.5 hook so I am using a 4.25 hook. I never crochet that small, so it is truly an Advanced Beginner pattern for me. Now for a look at what the end result should be:

In this picture the model is wearing it as a poncho and if you look closely there are buttons along one side that will allow you to wear it also as a cardigan or shawl. That is why I am calling it a 3in1 wrapper.

The yarn color I chose is a variegated coral. I was going to go with a blue but when I saw this color I had to snag it up!!

I'm hoping this yarn does it justice since it is 100% Acrylic and the elann Sonata Soft that the pattern used is 100% Mercerized Cotton. I thought when I bought this yarn it was the Mercerized Cotton, but I think I veered from the brand that was to this brand because of the color selection. If this yarn doesn't work out, then I will just order the Sonata Soft and do another. I'm sure I will have to hook another one for my daughter. She doesn't like this color for herself because coral doesn't go well with her skin tone. So I might be able to keep this one!!

I hope everyone's week is great! I am hitching a ride with Tami's amis blog. Please check out other WIPs!!

Completed Hooded Scarf

I enjoyed working the scarf pattern of the Hooded Scarf by Sedruola Maruska, but I went astray when it came time to begin the hood part. I started and frogged the hooded portion at least three times when I finally decided to make it separate and then attach. For those of you who have done this pattern and were able to do as the pattern is written, my hat goes off to you. My yarn just kept twisting. You don't want a twisted hood! LOL!!

I was able to complete it in time for my model to be back home from her latest competition. She loves it and I think I just lost another completed work to my little thief.

First picture of collage shows how I joined the hood to the scarf using the slip stitch. Second picture of collage shows the added 8 rows of half double crochet I needed in order for it to be a full hood. I also love how it looks attached to the scarf. The third picture in above collage shows the lovely cross over double crochet cable stitch. I believe it added a beautiful accent along with texture to the scarf and hood.

Close up of model and hood!! I really love the end result. :-)

Happy Valentines to all!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

I am hitching a ride with Tami's Amis again this week. You can also check out my project notes on my Ravelry account.

Warm Up America - Knit or Crochet

Happy Wednesday everyone!! I am excited to be participating in a very special charity event. It is called Warm up America and all local Michael's Craft stores are participating. The organization is asking for crocheters and knitters to make 7" x 9" rectangles in any design you like or color and in January all Michael's stores will have a joining party.

As per the organization's website: "The beauty of so many different participants is that a WUA! afghan resembles a patchwork quilt of many colors and textures, just as the participants and recipients represent the varied faces of America." 

This is such a touching charitable event. All afghans are donated to 

• Women's shelters
• Nursing homes
• Children's hospitals
• Hospitals and hospices
• Daycare centers
• Veterans' homes
• Churches
• AIDS facilities
• Homeless shelters
• American Red Cross chapters

So join me and your local Michael's Craft Store and let's "Warm up America"!!! You don't have to participate through a Michael's craft store, you can also crochet or knit up your own rectangles and just send them to the Warm Up America! Foundation and they will join yours to the many others they will receive.

This is one of the squares I am wanting to work up. I am not great at reading a chart, but hopefully I will be able to muddle through. It is also a written pattern, but sometimes I become so confused with all the abbreviations.

I also purchased a wonderful fingerless mitt pattern from Sandra Paul of Cherry Heart through Ravelry. The pattern is called Cherry Basket Mitts. They are the first crochet mitts that really call to me to hook up!

Courtesy of Cherry Heart Blogspot

I am looking forward to beginning these today!!

Everyone have a wonderful week!! I hope to have these cute and comfy looking mitts completed so maybe a FO on Friday!!

Elf Hat & Snow Hiking

Hello everyone!! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but it has been a very busy few weeks for me and not much crafting has been happening.

Elf Hat Pattern

I am very much into the Christmas spirit! I have been perusing Pinterest and Ravelry for some Christmas ornaments and hat ideas. I found a great pattern for a pixie/elf hat on Ravelry and just had to sit down and make one. The Crochet Pixie Cap by Teresa Richardson is an easy and fun little cap to make.

I went with non-traditional colors of aqua and grey. The brim has a row of popcorn stitches that make it a little more whimsical. One great thing about this pattern is once you are at the width you want you just keep crocheting in the round until you reach your desired length. Also the pattern link has video instructions!! I find video instructions very useful when you are trying a new stitch. I had never done the popcorn stitch prior to this pattern, so having the video was great. I am now working on another cap that will be striped.

Snow Hiking!!

This weekend we had some phenomenal snow fall! Sunday was a day off for the husband and I, so we decided on a nice snow hike. Enjoy the few pics we took during our hike!

Enjoy your week!!

Headwraps and Scarves

Last Friday I decided to walk home from work which is a 6 mile walk for me. It was a very nice day when I started the walk. Well, by the time I was 4 miles into my walk the weather became colder and it began to snow. I didn't have anything for my head to keep me warm, so I ended up with a head cold all weekend. What do you do when you are sick in bed all weekend? I crocheted headwraps and scarves!! Hopefully, these headwraps will keep the head cold at bay for the rest of the winter.

 

This is a very simple pattern that I found on Ravelry. The pattern can be found here. It is by blogger Frayed Knot. You can actually modify it by increasing the stitch row to adjust the width. I had to because of the yarn weight I used. The cactus flower headwrap was crocheted with Lion Brand Amazing yarn which is 1.75 oz weight and required an increase to 14 stitches wide. The Ozark forest wrap is made with Lion Brand Tweed and I increased to a 14 stitch wide wrap because of how tight I crocheted the stitches. The woodland tweed is also made from the Lion Brand Tweed and kept it at the 12 stitch wide pattern. This is an easy 1 hour project and great for a quick Christmas gift. I have a few nieces that will benefit from this pattern. :-) Plus my scarf thief has now also became a headwrap thief. I hadn't even sewn the button on the Cactus Flower one before my daughter snatched it up!

 

Since my DD wants to always own the items I crochet, she was commissioned as my head model! She added a little whimsical to the look by adding leopard spots to her makeup!

  

I have also made a couple of scarves to go along with the headwraps. I had already made a woodland tweed scarf, you might remember it from this post. It is an easy granny square scarf.

  

 

I made a scarf out of the Ozark forest colored yarn as well. It is the Spring Petal Scarf pattern. I loved how the sc and dc stitch combination makes this gorgeous shell.

 

 

Last, but not least, I completed the Tunisian Crochet Scarf! It turned out great. I did this one up without a pattern, but it is a pretty basic stitch. I just did 2 rows of Tunisian simple stitch, a row of Tunisian reverse stitch, and then Tunisian double crochet until I reached the length I wanted and ended it the same way I began. I made it into an infinity scarf mainly because Tunisian crochet really rolls up at the ends. I added a few buttons as well. 

 

 

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! I'm linking up with Tami's blog again this Friday. Please take a moment and check out other FOs!

 

Just a quick pic of what I woke up to this morning.

 

Snow and lots of it!!

 



WIP Wednesday - Learning to Knit!!

I have been so inspired by many of my Ravelry friends and bloggers lately. So I have finally decided to take the time and teach myself how to knit. I have this "Teach yourself how to knit" workbook that came with a dvd. Well, it wasn't sinking in so I went surfing and found this great video tutorial by Expression Fiber Arts on youtube. She is a little corky, but very good at showing you the basics. I love her personality! This is as far as I have gotten because the casting on was quite a challenge! Man, crocheting and knitting to me are night and day!

Yeah, I have been at it for an hour and a half and this is as far as I have gotten! I will get there eventually. I decided to use cotton yarn so I can turn practice swatches into dish cloths. Brilliant idea I know!! Everyone have a wonderful week!

I'm linking up with Tami's Amis blog again this week. Go check out some true WIPs!!

Pinterest Inspiration - Crochet Beaded Bracelet

Once again my interest has been peeked by a few pins I have seen on Pinterest. I came across a crochet beaded bracelet pin. The link sent me to Patternfish website where the pattern is by Diane L. Augustin.

Picture courtesy of Diane L. Augustine/Patternfish website

So being the cheap penny pincher person I am, I started perusing Ravelry and found a few free patterns.

Wind Rose Fiber Studio blog has a great tutorial for a Summer Cotton Crocheted bracelet.



Courtesy of Wind Rose Fiber Studio



I also found a purchasable pattern on Ravelry by Kimberly Dijkstra called jingle jangle crochet that provides 3 different crochet patterns. This pattern is the one I love:

 

 

So I have been inspired to venture into crochet jewelry making! I will have to ask assistance from my daughter when I begin these projects. She is our little jewelry maker in the family. I think she won't mind since she will be the intended owner of these.

FO Friday - Crochet Flower Potstand

I was cruising through Ravelry when I came across the Crochet Flower Potstand pattern by RubyRed Eclectic. It looked so darling. I did not realize how large it was going to be. It is about 12"x12".

You have to crochet two motifs and then crochet together. I tried to shortcut it with just doing one motif and then adding the single crochet out line of each petal, but it just didn't look right. Sometimes the pattern is just the way to go.

With this one I messed up on one of the motifs. I added an extra row/petal. So I made the extra part the hanger and will have to always keep this side up. Again watching TV and crocheting did not mix.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I'm solo all weekend since the hubby is working and the kids are still visiting with their grandparents. I should be able to finish a few WIPs!!

Please take a moment and check out Tami's Amis blog. There are plenty of FOs to peruse through.

WIP Wednesday - Still Pushing Onward

Hello and Happy Wednesday!! I am still working on a few projects that seem to be very long-term.

African Flower Afghan project has really taken a backseat. I haven't made any new squares for it in the past month.

Dancing in Daisies Blanket is still a WIP. I have completed all the center daisies. I just haven't decided on the color scheme. I do love the brown and blue that I started with, but I'm thinking of a more denim blue to go with the brown. I'm also considering adding some black-eyed-susies to the mix for maybe the center portion of the blanket. Yes, a total WIP at this point.

Flower Collage is still a fun project. I have added a few crochet butterflies. I found a very easy pattern on Ravelry by Lindsay Haynie. They are so cute and quick to make.

I also decided to add some of the daisies to the collage. Tillie Tulip's Daisy Tutorial is still my go to daisy pattern. They just work up so quick and cute.

 

The next pattern I'm wanting to add to the collage is a few leaves. I just have to begin my research on Ravelry and Pinterest to find which patterns I like best. If anyone has a suggestion of a leaf pattern that they find easy and quick, please let me know in a comment.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Please take a moment and hop over to Tami's Amis blog to check out other WIP's!

Pinterest Inspiration - Crochet Flower Collage Art

Hello! Sorry for being MIA these past 2 weeks. I have been recovering from an horrendous sinus infection/allergies and have not been very creative or productive. I am also very busy preparing for my son's high school graduation. He graduates on Friday and I am so very proud and happy for him. We are finally out of the four years of high school and now ready for the college adventure!!

Since I have not been able to be very creative these weeks, I have been enjoying my Pinterest time. I came across a great inspiration of making a crochet flower collage. I have been wrestling with the idea of framing a few granny squares as art work, but once I saw this I knew this is what I really want to do.



Picture Courtesy of TheHatandI from Ravelry

Floral Fantasy by Marken of The Hat and I pattern can be found on Ravelry. It is not a free pattern if you want to use this exact collage, but if you are like me, you have many flower patterns on hand that you can creatively come up with a wonderful collage. Here is also a link to Marken's Etsy shop. She has many whimsical and creative patterns to choose from.



Picture Courtesy of TheHatandI from Ravelry

Just had to share another beautiful picture of the Crochet Flower Collage!! Click on the pictures to get a better view of the flowers.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

WIP Wednesday - African Flower Afghan

Our weather in the Wasatch Mountains has been fickle this Spring. Each week we receive beautiful sunshine followed by three days of rain and snow. Since there really aren't any Spring flowers sprouting as of yet, I was in the mood to make my own. I did a lot of searching through pinterest and Ravelry. I finally found the right pattern. It is the African Flower Square by Barbara Langer at Made in K-town blog. Her tutorial is written so well. I was able to whip up my first square in a jiffy. She has clear and concise photos for each step that really keep you on mark.

African Flowers before squaring up with white.

I am using scrap stash bundles for this afghan. The two colors that will be throughout each square is white and sienna. Both are Lion Brand Yarn. The other mix-match yarn will just be the few left overs I have from previous projects. I really enjoy tackling scrap stash projects. Mainly because once all the small scraps are used then it is time to re-stock!! Yes, shop for more yarn! What girl doesn't love that?!

I am really enjoying this pattern. There are a lot of tail weaving because of the many color changes, but I am trying to weave as I go. My first square I didn't weave as I went and it was a little time consuming at the end. All and all, a very easy pattern and you just can't beat the end result!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!! Take a moment and hop over to Tami's Amis and Other Creations: WIPW and check out other bloggers' WIPW.

Daisy Blanket Inspiration

I am such a Pinterest fanatic! Recently I came across this pin:


Picture acquired from Pinterest

When I clicked on the pin it didn't take me to any original site that could direct me to the pattern. I searched Ravelry for a pattern close to this one, and came up short. I have been searching for about 2 weeks now. I want to make this blanket!! Well, I happened to be on Pinterest today and came across this lovely pin:

Lanas De Ana blog - Daisy Blanket

The blog didn't have a tutorial and it was in French, but it had a link!! Yes, this wonderful blogger linked to the original tutorial.

Picture acquired from Tillie Tulip Blog

Tillie Tulip Daisy Tutorial is a great picture tutorial. I am so looking forward to adding this to my project list. I love daisies and this will be the perfect Spring project. I will post pics once I begin!!