I got the It's Another Monday Blues...oh yeah

Ugh! Have I mentioned that I really do not like Mondays? I can deal with any other day in the week, but me and Mondays just don't mesh well!

Not a whole lot happening this week. The new temporary boss is off travelling around to the different countries so I am holding down the fort so to speak. The new Finance Manager starts next week so I'll be training him for a while....I feel like half of my life is spent training people!

Some folks from the US are in town this week on Wednesday for a training / information exchange which should be a good session hopefully.

Many thanks to Wendy for the type of tree that Maurice is (an Elephant Foot Tree) now I know how to properly care for him!

I've been slowly taking pictures and putting my stash on ravelry....I am a little bit over halfway done....its startling to see exactly how much yarn / thread one really has! I've elected not to take pictures and post the mystery skeins which I have a fair few floating about. I've also seen from the pictures that my storage techniques are beating the ball band wraps and making them look all torn and crumpled....oh well - its just the wraps right? I've actually bumped into some yarn that I've forgotten that I had! Bonus finds =)

I was in a Christmas Ornament exchange over at C'ville - I'll post the pictures of the ones I made for Becky as soon as they have arrived to her. Since I finished hers up, I've had an urge to start making more and more ornaments which I have manage to withstand. But I fear it's a losing battle....I've decided this year instead of bows, I'll use handmade ornaments as my decorations, so the upside is that I'll have a jump start on Christmas present decorations right? PLUS I'll use up some of my stash.....double bonus!

Okay, work is calling and I really want to get some things finished quickly this afternoon so I can get home at a decent time for a change!

Have a wonderful week!

I feel like Chicken tonight......

Chicken #1
Originally uploaded by kaml2000

I've been singing that little advertising ditty since I woke up this morning and started putting the finishing touches on Myrtle.

Here is she, yet another FO....she demanded to be made and in a hurry too! A fun and quick little project - Myrtle took me only about 2 hours in total time to make I would say - she flew off my hook like there was no tomorrow!

I used cotton from a large cone of Peaches n'Cream I bought in the US. Looking at the cone I think that I'll be able to make a LOT of Myrtles relatives from that same cone!

Details:

Pattern: Chickens by Michelle Wilcox
Source: Annie's Attic Ultimate Book of Pot Holders
Yarn: Peaches & Cream (I think the color way is Strawberries & Cream)
Hook: F Hook
Happiness Factor: 9 out of 10
Difficulty: Easy Peasy

Sideways Lace 2

Sideways Lace 2

The week is not over yet and here is another Finished item! I finished a new version of my Sideways Lace Scarf using once again Bernat Satin.

I forgot about this one as a WIP as its been sitting with my finished scarved but waiting on the fringe. This is the 4th scarf I've made with this pattern, but I forgot to take pictures of #2 & #3 before I gave them away! Ooops!

This version I extended the beginning chain by 21 stitches to a total of 274, to add on another 8 inches as this one is going to my old college roommate, Ashley, who is 6 feet tall. I hope that she enjoys it!

I have a confession....

I must admit it. My mother taught me not to lie, nor to lie by not saying anything. I confess. I started 2 new projects the past 2 days. I'm horrible.

I dug through my WIP box and nothing was calling out to me to be rescued. I tried to finish up the fan bookmark I had started, but forgot which hook I was using so that was frogged. I picked up the Garterlac dishcloth, decided nah, and frogged that.

While frogging the dishcloth, I noticed the Potholder pattern book sitting on my table. Looked at the kitchen cotton in my hands. Looked at the pattern book. Decided that I would just look inside the book....happened to see the chicken pattern. And what do you know? That darn chicken started itself!

I've also had that skein of Red Heart SS hiding out in my computer bag....coincidentally enough so was the Stitch n Bitch Happy Hooker book....how did they BOTH get in there I wonder? So of course when I was sitting in my car waiting for the boyfriend to get out to the car when I went to pick him up after work, I had to glance through the book. I needed something to do right? And i just happened to read the Fat Bottom Bag pattern which was conveniently bookmarked. And of course the strange stitch that is used on the bag caught my eye and I began to wonder what it looked like in person. So of course I reached back into my bag to grab out that stow away skein and a hook which happened to be the right size (again, miracles never cease!). Lets just say that the stitch is looking just fine so far. Little bit of a challenge getting my hands and hook to understand the concept, but I think it should work out nicely. And since I am swatching the stitch I might as well keep the swatch and continue with the rest of the pattern.....right?

The chicken is over half done...the bag will take me a little bit more time I think!

Before I go though I thought to introduce everyone to Maurice who was featured in the Monkey photo.....

I have no idea what kind of indoor tree he is, but hes got character!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Well, Miracles never cease!

Here it is, the proverbial you know where freezing over. My 3rd finished item this week.....there I was on a super long dry spell and then wham! I guess it is because of my project ADD - I never want to work just on one thing but skip around between several working just a little bit on each one at a time so no progress is ever really made until one day they are popping out of the wood work being finished!

So, here he is. May I present to the blogging community Monsieur Monkey....
I will say he is not as cute as what the picture in the book showed....perhaps because of my crocheting skill I don't know. His arms seem too long and gangly in real life and his legs to short and squatty. But hes finished and the little guy he is going to should not care!

Pattern Book: Crochet Les Doudous by Cedrine Armani (written in French)
Thread: DMC Petra Size 5 Cotton
Hook: Steel Size 2
Time: On and off for 3 months
Happiness: 6 out of 10

Now don't go holding your breath waiting for the apocalypse to happen tomorrow with another finished item from me. I am going to go through my crate of WIPs and start frogging some of them that I know I am not going to touch / finish. I am almost positive there is nothing in the crate that is even close to being done, but we could all be pleasantly surprise with another WIP....and I could win the lotto tonight as well!

Ta-ta for now - happy crafting!

Baby Its Cold Outside.....

There it is......WIP number two finished this week! I am on a roll now! *grin*

I've been working on this since July....started it in July and finished the entire teal section in a few days, put it away and finally picked it up and finished it last night.

I am so excited with how it turned out! A very quick and easy pattern!

Here are the details:

Pattern: Baby It's Cold Outside from Crochet Me Feb/March 2005
Yarn: Red Heart Ltd. Soft Yarn Solids - 7502 Lt. Teal
Hook: J Hook
Difficulty: Easy

Whats next you ask? Well, I am almost finished with Monsieur Monkey....the pattern neglected to include his tail, so I need to wing that one tonight and who knows, perhaps another FO for you tomorrow! I am also fighting the temptation to start on a Fat Bottom Bag.....I really want to clear out some more WIPs....but its oh so tempting just to start it. Then of course its a WIP which means I can work on it since my goal is to reduce myself down to 5 WIPs.

Ta Ta for now!

Baby Round Ripple....finished!

Finished! Just about a week to complete.


Details:

Pattern: Lyn's Round Ripple Baby Afghan
Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates in Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue & Purple Pastels
Hook: N Hook (9.0mm)
Time Spent Crocheting: 1 week
Size: 52 inches
Made For: My friend Megan's Baby
Pattern Modifications: Used 2 strands of yarn held together, larger hook

Overall, I really liked this pattern. It worked up very quickly and turned out really cute. I would make it slightly smaller next time, but otherwise no changes!

I still need to finish a few more WIPs and then I have a few project queued up in the wings waiting to be started including 2 different bags and a whole wardrobe of clothes for Dora.

Its here!

I am so excited! Mister Postman dropped off to me today a wonderful gifty in the mail......the 2007/2008 Catalogue Creations by Bergere de France. This is their annual catalogue which has small 2 inch samples of all of their yarns, and a plethora of pattern ideas for all of the yarns. Of course now that I've seen the yarns and the pattern pictures, I am going to have to run out and buy the pattern instructions.....yet again in French, but such is life in Belgium!

I am going to spend the big bucks this year on the CD Rom version which is going to cost me a whopping 3.90€ ($5.38 USD) and I will get not only the 128 patterns showcased in this years yarn catelogue, but also 150 patterns from their 2006/2007 magazines for Childrean, Infants and the Spring 2007 Knitting Pattern Leaflet. So I am spending just about 2 pennies per pattern.....I can handle the french for that cost =) They also have the 128 showcased patterns available in a print format for 3.90€ as well. Order the two together and they give you a 1.40€discount....order more than 49€in total, and they discount your order by €10, along with giving you a really cool looking knitting bag that says "I *heart* Tricot" (Tricot is the french word for Knitting)

Okay, I really need to get to work and get a few things finished....the new boss comes back from vacation on Monday and I of course don't have everything finished for him that he asked for....bad me!

As for the Round Ripple - I have 2 more rounds to go......it will be finished sometime this weekend!

The Sideways Lace Scarf Pattern

I’ve been putting off writing up this pattern and I am not really sure why. But I am now proud to bring to you my second pattern, the Sideways Lace Scarf.

This Broom-stick lace pattern is a very versatile pattern and extremely easy to modify for your desired yarn, size, available knitting needle size etc. I will first write up the basic pattern that I used, and then explain how it can be modified.

The Sideways Lace Scarf Pattern

Required Tools:

1.5 Skeins Bernat Satin Yarn
Size H Crochet Hook
US 19 (15 mm) Knitting Needle

Approx Size: 72" length - width as desired

With crochet hook:

Chain 253
Row1: Sc in 2nd chain from hook and in each chain stitch (total 252 sc) do not turn

Row 2: Pull the loop that is on the hook onto your knitting needle, and working from left to right, * insert your hook into the back-loop of the next SC, yarn over, draw yarn through the loop and, being careful not to twist, place it on the knitting needle * repeat from * to end (252 loops on the needle)

Row 3: Without turning, insert crochet hook under the first 3 loops, yo & pull through the loops, pull loops off of needle, Ch 1, 3 sc into top of the 3 yarn loops * in next 3 loops on the needle, 3sc in each across * (252 sc with 84 broomstick motifs)

Repeat Rows 2 & 3 until you have reached desired width

Last Row: Turn, Sc in each st across and finish off

Optional: A fringe can be added to the ends if desired


MODIFICATIONS:

Any type of yarn can be used, with the appropriate sized crochet hook for that yarn....with bulkier yarn I would decrease the chain, thinner yarn increase the chain so that you have the desired length in your chain.

A longer scarf needed? Increase your chain by groups of 3 (a group of 7 (21 ch) adds another 5 inches in length when using a H hook & worsted weight yarn)
A shorter scarf needed? Decrease your chain by groups of 3

Only have a Size 35 knitting needle:? I would suggest doing groups of 4 then, so make your starting chain 253, and increase or decrease by 4 to reach the desired length

Only have a Size 50 knitting needle? I would suggest using this with a group of 5, so increase your starting chain to 256, and increase or decrease by 5 to reach the desired length

Do not be scared to play around with needle sizes to achieve the desired Broomstick motif size

Ravelry Pattern Link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sideways-lace-scarf

Copyright © 2007 Kimberly Langlois All rights reserved.

Reproducing or transmitting this pattern by any means for any purpose other than for personal use constitutes a violation of copyright law.

This scarf may be made for personal use only. Should you wish to make the finished scarves for sale, please contact for permission. Should you wish to use this pattern for a class or event, please contact for permission.



Sideways Lace Scarf Pattern by
Kimberly Langlois is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Baby Round Ripple

I'm still not feeling 100% so I've not been doing much on my off time, but I have been working on finishing up my swap ornaments and working on my round ripple afghan.

Here are the two pictures of it so far:


I am using Lyn's Round Ripple Baby Afghan for my pattern which I am really liking s ofar - very easy and it works up quickly.

I have slightly modified the pattern in that I am using 2 strands of Bernat Baby Coordinates held together with a size N (9.00mm) hook.

The colors are all in pastels - pink, yellow, green, blue and violet with 3 rounds of each solid color and 3 rounds between each solid change of one stran of the previous color and one strand of the next color. This concept is similar to the painted thread doily concept where you use 3 strands of sewing thread together and you round by round change one strand.

I have finish the first three colors, with the blended green-blue, solid blue, blended blue-purple and solid purple left to go. I am still debating on some form of border round - it will depends on how large the final afghan turns out if I feel I want to increase the size or not.

Hopefully I will have this done sometime this week so I can move on to finish a few of my other WIPs.

Things continue to go along here in the Maison de Kimberly. Saturday night my car was broken into - passenger door glass shattered, glove box contents strewn across the car.......what was stolen? Absolutely nada! Sheesh - I had a few CDs - must not have been their taste in music, my I-pod car radio transmitter (not expensive but not imported from US as not sold here), a really nice pair of shoes (wrong size perhaps)....they did not even steal the radio!

All the hassle of having to go to the police station, call the carglass company, deal with the paperwork and I don't even have the fury over having something stolen! I told the policeman that I wished they had at least stolen the radio, then I could have gotten a better one.....he came back with saying perhaps it could have been the car and then I would have gotten a new one of those instead.

I am busy working on a Round Ripple baby afghan. I am using 2 strands of Bernat yarn in pastel colors and slowly changing them out. Looking good so far!

The new job is not keeping me that busy so I am busy working on the old job a lot. It looks like I'll be doing more and more for the old job than I am for the new one...until October at least! Still not sure what I will be doing next - staying in Belgium, moveing back to the US, moving to a different country....the options are all out there, its just deciding what I want to do from a professional career and development standpoint versus balancing my family and the bf. *sigh*

I think that is it for today - everyone take care and I'll be posting some pictures soon!

I'm baaacccckkkkk!

Well, vacation is over and I am once again back to Europe with my nose on the grindstone.

Vacation was not exactly "rest and relaxation" this time around as it involved 2.5 days of missing luggage, including my niece Abby's almost completed baby blanket. A visit to the ER room and the Radiologist due to severe pain in my left side and lots of nausea (gall bladder issues) lack of appetite and sleepiness. A whirlwind 2 day trip to Chicago. And lots of other running around.

I did finish the Baby Blanket in time for the Birthday Party. But I of course forgot to take a picture of it....yup, I'm blonde. I'm going to ask my sister if she can take one or bring it with her and have my parents take one of it the next time they see each other. I casted off and weaved in the ends as we were driving up to the party!! Talk about cutting it close!

I "accepted" a new job position here in Europe for a few months. We are creating a sub-region of the smaller countries in Western Europe and I'll be setting up the monthly finance and budget processes for this new region. Loads of fun. Lots of work and new headaches as I will be also still involved in the old position to some extent.

That is it for now. I have a ton of e-mails to catch up on, several new pattern books to go through and lots of knitting and crocheting to get done. I want to finish up a few more of these WIPs I have laying about.....progress is being made on them though! And I have a swap obligation I need to fulfill.