Jenny's Meanderings and Crochet

Meanderings about my life and my latest crochet projects and designs

Name:
Location: North Carolina, United States

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Basketweave crochet car seat blanket

So, a week ago I found out that there was a baby shower at my husband's work for one of the wives (very sweet lady), this coming Monday. I cannot make the shower since my work commute makes it impossible, but I thought that I should send something in with my husband.

Since the Happy Hooker's Seija set blanket is one of my favorite things to make for a gift, I thought I could whip one up rather quickly. The only problem is that I am bored with stripes and hate having weave in so many ends. So, I decided to try an experiment. I took the stitch pattern from Dot's Basket Weave Baby Blanket and combined it with the Happy Hooker's Seija set pattern (I love the ability to buckle a car seat belt through the blanket so it doesn't fall off).

I am actually really happy with the result, though it took a bit of playing to get it right. (Hint, you have to add a few more rows since the stitch patterns shrinks the height of the stitches somewhat).

Here are the pictures:

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Pics are here!

I finally finished the wraps for my SIL and nieces. My SIL's (blue and gold) follows the original pattern in the Sept. 2008 Crochet! magazine, and then I adapted the ones for the girls (blue and red instead of blue and gold).

Here are the pictures:


Thursday, November 13, 2008

2 years to the day

So, I just realized that it has been two years to the day since I updated this blog. Kind of scary that I have let that much time slip away. Things, of course, have been a bit hectic. Since I last posted, I have:
  • Held a job that I loved for a year and a half,
  • Left that job when my husband got transferred to North Carolina (where we used to live until 2004),
  • Packed up a house and moved 3 states north. (unfortunately, the house has not sold in FL)
  • Been looking for a full-time job since the transfer (thank goodness for temp work!)
  • Settled into a new apartment
  • Gotten back in touch with some wonderful friends that we met long ago
  • And of course, crocheted!
Current crochet projects:
  • Wraps for my sister-in-law and 3 nieces
  • Afghan for a friend
  • Jacket for me for wearing to Carolina Hurricanes games (project postponed until after Christmas)
Projects in near future:
  • Hanging towels for Christmas
  • Wrist Warmers
  • Purse
  • Scarves
  • Baby Blankets
  • And a partridge in a pear tree...
Check back soon for pictures! :)

Monday, November 13, 2006

It's been a while

Ok, so it's been a while. But I do have a few good excuses:
  1. 1. I started a new job Oct. 1 and have been settling into it
  2. I have been spending a lot of time watching the Joann's that just closed down in my neighboring town as it closed out all of its merchandise
  3. I have been working on a couple projects!
Now, onto the updates. I have been working on a MAM afghan for my mom for Christmas, but it really has not been going a mile a minute....Now, I only have one more strip to finish and then I can swet them all together...YAAAY. I will post pics when I finish it.

I also just finished a poncho for my eldest niece for Christmas. It worked up pretty quickly, but I hated working with the boucle yarn that I bought from Joann's (their brand...no idea how this compares to any other brand)...it was very fragile. I will try to post pics in a day or two.

My next project is going to be a Santa's sack to use sort of like an advent calendar for my nieces.

Finally, my yarn haul from the Joann's that closed yesterday:

First, I found yarn at the following special: Buy 1-14 skeins, 60% off; 15-24 skeins, 70% off; 25+, 80% off. I ended up buying about 30 skeins, all at 80% off...Lots of nice yarn, including some very nice Lion Brand Suede (hoping I have enough for the Romantic Jacket in the last issue of Crochet!).

Pics: This haul is in the lefthand bag of the first pic and in both of the second and third pics.





My second haul from the same store came last Friday when I ran into their $0.50/skein sale for all of their yarns... It is the 2nd bag in the first pic above and in the pic below.

Well, that's all of my news! Take care!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

FO Pics and good news

This has been a great week for me. I got a call last night offering me a job! Woohoo!!!! I am very excited!!! :) I will start work on Oct. 1, so my crocheting time will take a bit of a dip. Until then, though, here are the pics that I have been trying to upload for a couple days (Sorry that the dragon is sideways!):

For my nephew:

Where I got the patterns from:

Bib - http://crochetcafepatterns.blogspot.com/2005/04/elephant-pacifier-bib.html
Socks: http://www.crochetandknitting.com/babysock.htm
Hat: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/tonis-hats.html


For my cousin's son:















Pattern: http://home.inreach.com/marthac/dragon.html (He's called a dragon, but without wings, I think he looks more like a dinosaur)

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

More FOs

Well, a lot has happened since my last post:
  • I had two job interviews (Still waiting to hear back from them, but cross your fingers!)
  • I got sick (very odd, basically fever, fatigue, and nausea)
  • I got better
  • I found out that I passed the bar exam! Woohoo! Now I will be licensed in 2 states as soon as they finish the background check...I wonder what all they do that it takes 6-8 months...
  • I finished up several projects.
Ok, time for pictures of my FOs:

Well, blogger doesn't seem to want to upload my pics, so I will try again later.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Baby Boom and life meanderings

Well, I have been very baby-focused in my crocheting lately. Not for me, but for my nephew and new first cousin once removed (i.e. my first cousin had a baby).

One of the patterns that I made is a cute car seat blanket for my cousin and her new baby. The pattern came from "The Happy Hooker" by Debbie Stoller. The blanket is done, but I am still trying to decide what to weave through the top and bottom. The pattern calls for a bunch of yarn, which would leave 2 tassels on each end...maybe I'm wrong, but lots of loose yarn + a baby doesn't sound like a good match to me. I am thinking maybe some ribbon that is glued down with some washable fabric glue ... or maybe I should just leave the holes open and pretend the pattern called for that. Here's the pic:

The next items were actually a request by my SIL. First, she mentioned that she is having a hard time finding a pacifier holder because my nephew only likes the pug-style pacifiers, which do not have the convenient handles to hook into. She did find one, but it has a clip to hold it on, which doesn't work on all outfits. So, I went looking for patterns. I have completed one thus far, with only a little adaptation so it will work with the pug pacifiers. The pattern I chose is "The Elephant Pacifier Bib" by Jocelyn Sass. Here's the pic:

My SIL's next request was some baby socks that would actually stay on her son's feet. I found a great pattern here: http://www.crochetandknitting.com/babysock.htm. There's only one problem...they are coming out too big. I selected the 3-6 month size, but keep coming out with socks big enough to fit my 2 YO niece. I have already tried to reduce my hook by 2 sizes, but think I need to go at least one more. Here is the pic of the socks (one using a G hook, the other an E hook).


I will keep trying on the socks, but also have plans for a hat. Also soon to be on my hook is Betty Saxton's and Luana Nelson's Dragon.

Well, that's all of the crochet updates. My life has been a little odd lately, so not too much has gotten done crochet-wise.

  • This week I got the results of the MPRE (Ethics portion of my bar exam) and found out that I passed with flying colors. :) Now if I get the same results on the FL bar, I will be really happy.
  • My MIL went home Tuesday after spending 5 days with us
  • Yesterday we received 5.5 inches of rain in 2 hours (my entire screen porch flooded) (Oh, and it's raining again right now)
  • Saturday, I got a call for a job interview (YAY), but when I showed up today as scheduled, I was met with very odd looks and a "But someone was supposed to call you to reschedule" (very ackward). I then was given a 5 minute tour and sent on my way with promises of "We'll call you to set up another interview next week." I think I took it well and even joked about getting a "sneak peek," but it was definitely not something I want to repeat.
  • I have another interview at a different place early next week, so wish me luck! I really want this job because it's pretty much my dream job.
  • Finally, I am looking for an elusive yarn...Red Heart Super Sport yarn in Spruce. The only place I can find it is at Smiley's Yarn, but alas, my husband will not condone my spending $40 (min) + SH for yarn when I only need 2 skeins and have 4 boxes of other yarn in the closet. Maybe he'd feel differently if he knew it was for a gift for him for Christmas. Oh well, maybe once I find a new job I will be able to buy some more yarn.

Sorry for the length of the post, but lots is happening around here!