loopy doopy misery and fun

Being sick sucks.  Something came on all of a sudden yesterday and I had a fever during the night.  Now I’m just stuck with a runny nose and clogged sinuses, which usually leads to chronic ear infections.  I’m on a decent number of medications and am feeling a bit loopy.  Kinda like “WHEEE!” and “UGH!” at the same time.

On the bright side, I think I’m going to love my job!  We get free lunches every day, flexible schedules, insurance benefits, paid vacation time and sick days, and my coworkers are great, not to mention the interesting times with clients!  I don’t often do selfies but here’s me at my desk!

first week of workThe lime colored Patagonia vest was from the thrift store that our program operates, but it’s closing so one of my coworkers snagged this for me!  They’re already accepting me and it feels so nice to be liked!  🙂

So do you have things that you specifically like about your job, or are you working in a place that makes you unhappy?   And how many of you are stay-at-home moms or “housewives?”  I’m just curious because it seems to me that ladies who are all about family consumer sciences (that’s what they call home-ec these days) or being at home are the ones who knit and crochet the most (although I have seen a couple of business women knitting in public over the years).

Speaking of knitting in public, I saw a lady knitting in the waiting room of the allergist’s office yesterday.  I kept trying to watch her because I was curious, but I think she noticed and thought I was staring at her in a way that connotates that knitting is stupid (which, as we all know, is not the truth).  Do you feel like people look at you in a snobbish way when you knit/crochet in front of others?

Well I’ve rambled enough — there wasn’t even anything project related in this post!  That will be remedied next time.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

 

Navajo 3-ply tutorial is up

There is now a tutorial for the Navajo 3-ply method available.  This method allows you to use 3 strands of 1 ball at once, eliminating the need for multiple balls of yarn when tripling up.  It works with both knitting and crocheting, and is ideal for when you have a ton of fingering or lace weight yarn that you don’t know what to do with.  Turn it into worsted or bulky yarn with this method!  To view the tutorial, you can find it under “crochet tutorials” in the drop-down menu bar, or you can

click here

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoy the tutorial!

a finished cowl & other fun stuff

A third chunky circle scarf has joined the ranks of yarncrafted items in the front closet:

chunky circle scarf 3 1Yep, the pattern is good enough to make at least 3.  Granted, at least one will be a Christmas gift, but I don’t want to let go of this one because grey is my new favorite color.

chunky circle scarf 3 2This one was made with Cascade Yarns Heritage Paints, which is a fingering weight yarn.  The pattern calls for either 2 strands of worsted held together or chunky yarn, but I used the Navajo 3-ply technique to triple-strand the fingering weight yarn, making it suitable for this project.  I may do a tutorial on that if anybody is interested, so let me know!

Yesterday Chris and I went to the Renaissance Festival with a bunch of friends.  It was really fun, but I only got a few pictures.  My favorite is from the falconry show, where many raptors were brought out and flew across the audience.  This one is an eagle owl:

photo 4 (2)The friends we went with also gave me some yarn-related birthday presents which I thought I’d share with ya’ll (this is the same friend who made the yarn bowl for the giveaway).  A wonderful ball winder, which I have already used:

photo 2 (1)She also gave me a needle gauge and some needle holders, which should make things a lot easier!  Did you know that, while KnitPicks needles are my favorite, the interchangeable ones aren’t stamped with their size?  Now that’s not a problem!

photo 1 (1)After arriving home from our visit to the Renaissance Fair with our wonderful friends, we were getting out of the car and found this little girl outside with no tags:

photo 1 (3)She looks like a little pittie/lab mix, and she’s sweet as can be!  We asked around and I think she belongs to some neighbors we haven’t been able to catch at home yet, so she’s inside with us.  She’s not housebroken, she’s covered in fleas, and she was very nervous about being in a house with new people, but I pulled out the trundle bed and some washable pillows and blankets and slept with her last night.  She and our dog Zero are getting along fine, but if we have to keep her for the rest of the day we’re gonna have to give her a bath in Dawn dish soap (which kills fleas better than actual flea shampoo).  I hope she’s OK with water.

Well that’s about it for today, I think.  See you soon!

 

 

 

 

 

PDF pattern for the CAL (with step-by-step photos)

Working through the day I have finished turning the as-we-go stripey blanket CAL into a PDF with the photos included.  This version is not so printer friendly as the photo-free version — this one’s over 80 pages!  But for those who want to follow the instructions without being online, this will hopefully help out.

click here for PDF pattern

Enjoy!

cal114

PDF pattern for the CAL blanket available!

As requested by a few people, I have made a PDF version of the as-we-go stripey blanket!  This version does not include the step-by-step photos — it is meant to be printer-friendly.  Hopefully soon I will get the chance to make a PDF that does include the photos, as well.

click here for PDF pattern

Enjoy!

cal114