Mother's Day Crafts: Mission Accomplished

I've been meaning to share some of the goodies I hand-crafted for Mother's Day just passed. Word is that all my crafts were delightfully received.

Rosy Cosy So Easy Peasy

A Picture of an Staples, Inc. easy button (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mug Coaster Cozy with (Akua's) Daisy Button.

Pattern for both can be found on Craftsy.com (Mug cozy pattern by Micah Makes www.micahmakes.com. Daisy pattern by Akua Lezli Hope)

This was SO easy to make, I've decided to make up several with the yarn that my partner bought for me (about 15 skeins of painted yarn!) and give them away, with a dollar store mug, at random :)

I'm giving this one to one of my co-workers for Mother's Day (I plan to make another one, for a green mug, and give that one to my boss's boss for Mother's Day).

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Craft Bag Missions Accomplished

Mother's Day cake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yes! Finally!

I've finished all the projects that I've had sitting in my knitting bag from as far back as November/December 2011 (sorry, Janiece).

I mailed two of those projects off this week, in time for Mother's Day, as planned. Already got a nice response back from the mother-in-law.

The third project is going home with the soon-to-be-husband when he goes to Indiana for his summer vacation, next month (a gift for my sister-in-law).

In case you missed it, here's what I've been working on:

 Double-sided/pocket pot-holders, using cotton yarn and tunisian crochet from a pattern I designed myself (with ideas from other crochet divas across the web).

 A close-up of the crocheted flowers and tunisian cord loop (for hanging).

 Butterfly drawstring pouch using medium weight wool yarn. Pouch made on a round loom. Butterfly made using traditional crochet with a H size hook.

Patriotic Spring Floral Coasters using cotton yarn, traditional crochet method, and using this pattern.

I think that my next project will be making a few coffee mug cozies with a new flower pattern that I discovered on Pinterest.

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Knitting and a Movie

Knitting Kit-Jimin (Photo credit: nist6ss)

This is my new M.O.

I tried taking my knitting to work. When it's really slow, it's great. I can get a lot done. But, lately, I've been so busy I hardly have time to finish my day-job in the allotted time for my shift. I would probably be onto a few different projects, right now if not for work actually requiring me to, you know?, work. (It's a lot slower in the Fall/Winter, which is why I was able to fling a lot of projects out of the door, so quickly).

Home life is no better and even when it is, the last thing I want to do is knit. I like web-surfing and gaming (Facebook, anyone?) and snuggling with my honey and the house and the kids need my attention, so knitting is on the back-burner when the family is up. I tried carving out a time when the home-school work is put away and my honey is off spending time with his daughter (who doesn't currently live with us). It's the same time, every day. But, inevitably, my honey brings the little one to the house or he doesn't have her on some particular day and then he's in my sphere and knitting doesn't seem so important as chatting with him (I have a hard time with my rounds if our conversations get intense).

As part of our daily routine (unless it's both our nights off), he goes to work in the late evening and I stay up and wait for his call in the wee hours of the morning. I spent a lot of time gaming and watching movies during this time and, just recently, it occurred to me that I have pretty much zero interruptions. That time would be very well spent knitting/crocheting and it's pretty much the same amount of time as I typically allot during the daytime.

So, I started my knitting and a movie practice where I sit down with my yarn, my current project(s) and Netflix.com (or Hulu.com) and get a couple (or more) hours of yarn work done. This seems to be working out, though, my progress still needs some work. That has more to do with some issues I'm having with my projects, themselves (you know? common mistakes that worm their way into any project making you have to restart or find a new creative way to finish).

At this rate, I'm hoping that, in three to five more movies, I should be finally finished up with my Mother's Day projects.

I've Really Been Slacking on My Blog Diva and Yarn Yammering Duties

A basket of yarn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Life has surely gotten the best of me, offering me numerous distractions, but it hasn't prevented me from knitting and crocheting, completely (just kind of slowed it down to a painful crawl, particularly for those folks out there waiting and waiting and waiting for me to send them some goodies). I'm working my way back up to my former crafty task-load. In the meantime, I offer my sincere apologies, though I would ask if I may still indulge your considerable patience.

I'm still working on a fabulous butterfly pouch bag made with my high school colors for my dear friend J.H. but I am also trying to finish up a set of potholders I am crafting using Tunisian stitch for my mother-in-law-to-be. I hope to have all projects done by Mother's Day, but my current track record is not boding well for that since my day job and real-living keep getting in the way.

Pictures will be posted soon.

To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can.~Sydney Smith

What I'm Working On Today

Finally learned all the fine points of knitting. I've now practically mastered an entire section at Michael's :-D

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What We're Working On Today Pt. 2

Lil' Man finished up his pouch. :)

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What We're Working On Today

Lil' Miss finished her pouch. Lil' Man is almost done with his.

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What I've Been Working On Today

My sister challenged me to make a muffin. This is the final result. Looks good enough to eat, no?

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