Ahh....Ahhhhh....Ahhhhhhh....chooie!

Ugh!

I've got a cold. A nasty head cold which is not helping the work situation out at all. This is my final week of insanity as we prepare a 5 year plan. Its been chaos, and everyone is afraid that I am burning out....I accused them this morning of working me to death!

I left work today at about 6.....first time in months that I've left work when the sun was still out! Woo hoo! Its in the mid-60s here today so its lovely - all of my doors are open letting in fresh air and hopefully chasing out the sicky bugs. No worries - yes I understand that mid-60s feel warm, but its not really THAT warm, I am wearing a thick sweater and socks and have a quilt over my lap. And I'm drinking hot tea like its going out of style!

I finished the requested wings for my nephews Dragon, so I am working on sewing them on today. Hopefully I'll get a little bit more things done tonight before I crash and fall asleep.

Cheers!!

Pssst - Swapna - how am I doing on the exclamation points? I am trying to keep them down and not use them every sentence! *grin*

Is it Friday yet?

Nope, its only Monday. Friday is my goal, my bright spot at the end of the long tunnel I've been running through lately!

I did not get a lot done over the weekend due to having to work Fri night, Sat & Sun once again. But I have made some progress.......here are the most recent updates:

Peach Doily *** Have not even touched in the past 5 days
Triangle Potholder * I have 2 of four triangles now finished
Monkey (1 of 2) ** Finished the body and arms. Hands, Butt, Legs, Feet and tail to go!
Hat *** Worked a few more rounds, still in infancy really
Sideways B-lace Scarf (& the pattern written and posted) * Almost finished!
Crazy Stitch Potholder ** 9 of 15 rounds
Cabbage Patch Bathing Suit * Finished!!!!!!!!
Baby Slippers * One of two done

* = small time required ** = moderate time required *** = large time required

Here is the Cabbage Patch Bathing suit that I made as the first draft for the ones that I am making my nieces......this one will stay with me so I don't have a naked baby sitting my house =)

Actually this is because I used the size hook (G) that the pattern called for, but in the end it was slightly too small on the sides. I used some *gasp* Red Heart that I have in my stash and a pattern from a booklet that was sent to me a while back. I will re-make as it was VERY easy and quick, although with a H hook this time!

Luckily you can not see the doll to closely...she is filthy! She was my very first Cabbage patch that my Grandmother gave to me for my birthday when I was 6 or 7 I think it was. Shes been VERY well loved and used, and can now claim international travel! =)

I hope that everyone has a great week - I can not say that I'll have tons of time to crochet and knit, but I am going to try very hard to finish a few more things!

Toodles!

Adventures ahead......

My next break away from the hamster wheel I am running on these days has been scheduled for May, 3 days after my new co-manager starts....welcome to the group, I'm going on vacation.......rather nice of me eh?

I mentioned on another persons blog today that getting onto an airplane is something I love, and its true. Just think what happens after you walk into a metal tube. You sit down, wait for a specific length of time, read, crochet, sleep, eat, drink.........but when you walk off that plane a whole new series of adventures await you in someplace new. It could be somewhere you've been to a hundred times, or somewhere that you've never been to but only dreamed of. Regardless, new experiences await.

This time when I board my plane, this will be waiting for me to explore.......

Any ideas on where I am going? =)

Caught between goodbye and I love you......

Not really sure why this song is in my head, it just is. The Carpenters are always a good listen!

Only thing I've been thinking of ditching lately is the I-Pod *gasp* What? Yup, I'm getting rid of my I-Pod this summer....just to upgrade less than a year after I bought the first one! I've maxed my 30 GB out to the maximum capacity and of course I can not delete any song.....I just might be in the mood to listen to it one day and be totally upset when its not there!

Oh, yeah. And the job. I often wonder if its really all worth it. The distance from family and friends. The insane hours. The lack of personal time. Expensive yarn. (had to put that one in)

Darn it! I've been really whinny lately! Apologies....and apologies for the apologies.

What is this blog supposed to be anyways? Its a tracking of my voyage into the realm of fiber arts. And I would say a look at the progress I am making in the fiber art skill sets. April 5th is coming which is my 2 year anniversary. I do need to do something again for that day......perhaps another contest. Will think on it and let y'all know!

I joined the Kitchen Swap over at Fiber Freaks. yeah, I said no more swaps but I could not resist this one! An added bonus.......I'm swapping with Mimi! I need to get busy thinking of something superb and spectacular to send over to her!

I did actually find time to work on my WIPs last night. I was jumping around, but I did make some significant Monkey progress, along with working on my Crazy Stitch dishcloth, and the Broomstick lace scarf.

I also saw a few more last night that I forgot on the list........ugh! But as Su says "variety is the spice of life"

Plodding along...

As my co-wrokers are saying I am way too happy to have been working for 2 solid weeks every day, often until 11,12 and my latest night 1:30! But I feel its either smile and luagh or break down in a little ball curled up in the corner and crying out of sheer frustration and overwhelmtion (I don't think that is a word, but it should be if not!)

I did find time on Saturday to sneak away from my computer while a report process was running and head down the street to the yarn shop. Where I picked up several balls of Noro to make cabled hat (out of season, but I'm strating early for next year!) and a find that has made me SUPER happy!

While its still not SnC or PnC, I found Coats Lyric cotton which is an 8-ply, 70m, 50g cotton yarn that has a similar feel to it as SnC. It is slightly smaller I think, but not enough on the ruler to be noticeable, although it does work a little bit differently than the SnC I think. I only picked up 8 skeins at the shop, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be going back for more!

While trying to shove at least a little bit of food into me last night before going to bed after I got home, I started counting all of the WIPs that I could see...I'm embarrassed to say that from my table I counted 10 WIPs in various states......that includes the 2 new ones that I started this weekend....I have to stop this madness.

My goal is to try to cut that list in half over the next week. Here are the projects that I think could be reasonable to finish (ie they are not a massive project that would require more time than I have available):

Peach Doily ***
Triangle Potholder *
Monkey (1 of 2) **
Hat ***
Sideways B-lace Scarf (& the pattern written and posted) *
Crazy Stitch Potholder **
Cabbage Patch Bathing Suit *
Baby Slippers *

* = small time required
** = moderate time required
*** = large time required

This is 8 of them.....will see what I can accomplish! Those that I know I can not finish - Cross Stitch sampler, Baby Afghan

Happy Crafting!

Ready to run!

Run away screaming that is! I realize that I complaign about work a fair amount, apologies for that! But, once again its kicking my rear end! I was in work yesterday at 8:30 am and left at 11:30pm, to come back in again at 8:30 today. Tonight should be another late one, and then I have a 7:30 am meeting tomorrow with on of the VPs. Oh joy....I detest morning meetings, and to make it worse, its one on one!


Okay, enough with work.


The weekend went very well! My friend from Argentina, Zori, stopped in Brussels on her way to Shanghai where she will live for the next 6 months! Of course I am planning a trip to go and visit her! Probably in May, but it depends on my work schedule!


I had a few e-mails about the pattern for Chloe.


The book is called Crochet Les Doudous de Cendrine, autour du monde. And is by Cendrine Armani. Yes, the instructions are in French, but I think anyone with basic crochet knowledge should be able to work them out....there are resources available that explain the terminology from French to English on the web. And of course I would be more than willing to help anyone who gets stuck!



I started the Monkeys this weekend. They will be 17cm tall when completed with the Size 5 thread.

And my following projects after them will be:

The Pig will be about 30cm tall and the others will be 32 by 34 cm. So they are not very big, but they are super cute! I wonder how they would look done in yarn.....perhaps one day!

As for the other outstanding WIPs in my life.....

Peach Doily - round 11 of 35
Baby Blanket - 10 of 25 repeats
Sideways Scarf - 4 of 5 rows
Pooh Cross Stitch - about 90% done - just the outlining to do

Progress is being made on my goals....slowly but surely!

Introducing....Chloe!

Well, my long outstanding UFO / WIP that I've hinted about the past few weeks is finally finished. I persevered through several stupid mistakes that I made, a few pattern errors and finally have my first completed French project!

French project you ask?

Yes, the pattern came from a book I bought in French. I crocheted and assembled the pattern from the French version.....hence a few of my initial mistakes.

The details - Size 5 thread from DMC called Petra (this really should be sold in the US - the colors are wonderful & the thread is wonderful to work with). Start Date - around July 18th 2005!!!!

In all of her glory and magnificence, I introduce you to Chloe.....my Frog Ballerina Princess!

I am tempted to keep her for myself, but she will go to my niece as intended. From the same pattern book I am wanting to start a Monkey - I don't currently have all of the right colors, so I'll need to get them ordered.

While waiting, I will continue to work on the Baby Blanket for my other niece - I finished another section over the weekend, as well as a few other assorted WIPs that are around my apartment!

Pictures pages...time to get your crayons and your pencils!

Sorry that I've not been blogging much - working 14 hour days at work is killing me! I am not even taking my computer home at night. I scan through bloglines quickly every day, but can not take too much time to comment - I am reading though!!

My nephew's Dragon "Charzon" (he named it) is completed! I started on my nieces purple one, but it was looking like Barney, which is a no-no for my BIL's house! I have convinced her that the dragon can be pink, although she is requesting a red tail and that it be named Dora!

The pattern is located here: http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42777 I found it to be a really easy and fun pattern! Put it on your to-do list!

Here is an ornament stocking that I made from a pattern sent to me by my friend in Texas...sorry that its sideways....tilt the head =) Its not perfect by any means, but I'm happy with it! My knitting skills are slowly progressing. I used some Carmencita Acrylic Yarn that Mimi sent me a while back when I placed an order for thread from her!

Here is a picture of my wonderful present prize from Yasmin..... apologies for the bad color - the pictures are taken on my cell phone. The Doily is a wonderful purple color!!

That is all for now. I've been working more on my youngest niece's baby blanket....she just might get it as her first birthday present in July! I am not quite half done. I am using the Fanned Feather Afghan for Baby pattern and I've done about 10 repeats out of a needed 25 or so! I'm going to try to finish at least one repeat a week until I go home in July.....that calculates to 18 additional repeats....perfect!

I am setting a few goals for my upcoming months crocheting......finishing at least one doily a month (already behind with no February) buying no new patterns until July, finishing at least one new pattern a month from a book I already own, finishing all of my WIPs, writing 4 new patterns in 2007. Is it all possible...I don't know, but at least having some goals might push me in the right direction with my crafting!