FAIL

I suck at blogging now-a-days, too busy working & mommying...oh life
Here's what I've been up to:
What I've learned from this soon to be yoshi afghan: color change, stranded knitting & the fact that this blanket is going to be smaller than I want it to be...so I need to add 3 more images and sew them together. Oh the things I do for my friend.
Knitting is pretty cool, nice to have in my list o' skills.
I haven't touched my mini sewing machine yet...it's just sitting there...waiting for some good thread & great attachments...I just need fabric.
I'm thinking first project will be bed textiles. I bought some "satin" pillow cases & a comforter. It's tearing at the seams after only 2 months. I cannot wait to get an awesome sewing machine with myriad attachments so I can make cool stuff, but I'm ok with the singer for now. I really really need shelves...I've stacked up old diaper boxes and made them into shelves for our closet and my yarn. It's worked out and lasted almost a year now, it's just ugly as &#%$. I'm also not buying anymore yarn until all my other stuff is gone + the frogged granny yoshi blanket [fgyb for short]. I'm going to unravel it, double strand it take the biggest crochet hook or pair of knitting needles I can find and afghan it up. It will probably look like I'm a seahawks fan, blech. If I had more green I'd make it a seattle sounders blanket. I like european football instead of the boring American football.

Oh and that mass of black & white is a bag in the making...also made from the fgyb.

This is my granny bag...i ran out of brown yarn so I deemed it "The odd hobo" I really like it. Made with cotton, it's unlined..I did weave in the ends after this photo. It's got pretty good space & feel sturdy. In a word, functional. I take it out with me sometimes.

Too busy for a blog, but it's nice to write....

I have been quite busy lately I joined the May granny-a-day CAL on craftster.org, finished my swap items and mailed then and recently picked up knitting. I'm working on a "middle sized monster" from rupestur.blogspot.com. DPNs scare me so I opted for circular needles...but I picked up a pair with a short cord...I guess this will just make me better at knitting when I finally get needles with a longer cord lol. Since my last post this is what I've been up to:

The last of April's CAL



My WIP middle sized monster

And last but not least my goldfish I made for my swap partner....hopefully she doesn't check my blog.

I made a Boucle' bag from a japanese pattern I found on ravelry.com, I didn't like it so I'm taking it a part and making an Inga bag, but before I use up all my pretty cotton yarn, I need to finish the Aila mary-janes I've been procrastinating on. They just need straps. Pictures up later.

Not much going on...crafting wise

I've been busy working & catching up with friends lately. I've been working on a pair of purple & sage booties, the strap is ballerina like. I still need to find Mr. Motivation & finish the other >.<
Ugh, I hate it when I buy balls of pretty colors that are specifically for one project, but once I finish these I'm getting rid of my scraps & making an ugly-ghan. It's going to be knit, I want to finish something large.
I still need to work on my Yoshi blanket, but I want to make an Inga bag.

I'll be joining another granny-a-day CAL on craftster.org but I want to finish my other projects first.
I've had to put off my swap crafting too but I'll pick that up tomorrow morning or tonight, depending on if I work past 10.

Umm..yes that's all I believe.

New in my etsy...

I just finished & posted Jaxsen's Loafers. They are a sage green & coco bootie with coordinating buttons. They are available in my etsy for 0-6 months, if you need a different size, convo me!

On other news, I finished Will R. Aine he would like to meet you:


I was going to give him a monocle & a mustache but I'm not that great at embroidery. I just learned how to do a back stitch! haha.

I need to finish this swap but I'm just procrastinating away. It's a beautiful day here in the PNW & I might take my WIP bag with me and enjoy the sun.

Relaunch of my etsy shop...well kind of

I took off all 4 things I had in my etsy shop and put in it's place the Amigurumi pattern for wobbuffet v2.o:

and the poo I made the other day.
I have lots of other plans, like mobiles, baby room decor, toys, useless time. You know, things just to get me through the spring/summer until fall gets here then I can whip out the apparel to keep everyone snuggly warm :]

Visit my shop sometime, it's not much now, but quantity isn't quality!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hhoang

Amigurumi Poo

Here it is in all it's dookie-fied glory: poo.
I made it a paperweight, but I don't think it's heavy enough. Maybe less than half a pound? I needed to do some stash busting & I had this awesome brown plaited cotton yarn left over from making these button up booties awhile back. I'll be taking more pictures of it later for my etsy shop, btw do any of you people know how to turn patterns into PDF files & if it's free? I feel I should share my patterns.
Anywho, I decided to free form this because a lot of the poo patterns I found looked, well not like poop haha. No offense to those of you who made up the patterns, with out you I wouldn't have been able to figure out a different way to make it. I think I might personify the poos I decide to make in the future.

a quickie post

I forgot to mention, I have a bunch of left over brown cotton yarn left over...so I'll be making amigurumi poo.
Poo is cute & I think I will just crochet a tube that tapers at both ends then coil them together and sew it closed. I saw other patterns & they don't really look like poo to me. eh, I also finished my second small today, took me almost an hour. I am going to make a medium and 2 critters.
They will be ceiling hangings for my swap partners dining room.

I'm going to work on a wobuffet v2.0

I like the first one I came up with, but not satisfied. Geeze, I hate being so picky. I think I figured out how to do his 4 legs/tentacle thingys with out doing them individually, I need to test that out. Plus my embroidery skills need to be practiced somewhere on something.

I'm going to work on another ami today. I'm really happy with how the first one came out.
I need to make a quick list, I guess I'll share it with you:
postal wrapping paper [ ]
safety eyes [x]
cotton yarn [ ]
another cup o' coffee [ ]
replacement hooks [ ]
circular knitting needles [ ]
cable needle [ ]
knitting book [ ]
scrummy fabrics [ ]

If you have any of these just laying about your home and it's just taking up space, please feel free to send them to me :]

I feel it's been ages.

I'm still working on my ami's and CAL.
good progression so far. I am so excited. I was on craiglist, under the FREE section of course and came across free bags of polyfil, sewing patterns & some fabric..there was also and etc SO I'm hoping it will be some other sewing notions :] I'm picking it up tomorrow & it's only downtown, which is about 10 minutes away from my apartment.

Here's my update:
Just finished 1 small amigurumi for my swap partner on crafster.org, I'm not posting a picture of it since well, I don't want my swap partner to suddenly stumble onto my blog.

here is my post for saturday for the granny a day CAL I'm participating on that same site:

10 squares down, 20 more to go. I'll be making number 11 later today, since it is 3:33 in the morning, no I don't stay up on the computer & twiddle yarn I'm usually at work this late. So even though I have weekends off my sleep schedule is still weird.

Yesterday, I made a cozy for this Similac sample can that I use to hold my hooks, pens & other goodies. First time I used a gauge & it fits so perfectly. I call it the puffy can cozy.

April is a busy month.

Oh me, I've been so busy. No time for blogging. Aside from the baby, work & cleaning I'm participating in a CAL on craftster for granny squares and an amigurumi swap.

I had a lot of coffee today and made 2 extra squares...
Well 27 more days to go.

First attempt at a bag.

Second sewing project, first bag.
It's small enough to fit a netbook.
If I ever get one, that is what this would be used for.
For a first attempt I think I did pretty well. I used a hoodie that went down to my knees, I'm sure if I wanted to make a larger bag I could.
It isn't perfect but, I love the print.
It's all recycled. I used a black t-shirt for the lining.
I think my next attempt, I'll add a magnetic snap, an outer pocket and a different style of handle. Here's a picture of the interior:

Jaxson's Mirrored afghan

This is Jaxson's mirrored afghan. I got it off of the lionbrand.com site, it is a free pattern & I do not claim this as my own. The only thing I changed was the color sequence so that the middle stripe was double the width of the others & reversed the color sequence for the rest of the blanket. If I would have worked on it non-stop I believe I would have been done in a weekend. It was easy & quick. A lot of people down-rated it because it did not lie flat while being crocheted. I fixed that problem easily: A quick dip in some warm water squeezed, not wring, out the water and hang dried it overnight. Now it's as flat as Kansas.
I used redheart designer sport yarn for this project & a G hook.

Hello, Crochet is now offical

It's only got one post
and it's just about making a chain.
Still, I think it's pretty clear, what do you think?
I have lesson 2 coming soon.
It's midnight now and i'm too tired to post it and put up pictures :

http://hellocrochet.blogspot.com/

I feel like I should have tute blog

I just might start one.
I'll try to put up information that I had to SCOUR the internet for, like techniques for joining squares, flowers, ami's
& even post up free patterns as practice.

Yes. It's decided.
Next project:
Hello, crochet.

WIP: dweebo

Dweebo is a little creature I LOVED crawing up.
He loves lollipops & some how always gets hurt. He's constantly wearing a bandaid. Poor thing.
He's got a best friend named Sqweebo who is an alien.

I believe Sqweebo is the smarter of the two.
You'll meet him soon.

I ran out of yarn.

I was in the middle of making a jellyfish, just stash busting. I got through 5 tentacles and bam, out of yarn. I was hoping I could make it around the jellyfish with all tentacles & finish off the bottom & close it off with black, but I couldn't. What a shame, I will finish it though.
I plan on making some things blue for my etsy shop.

So, other than that what are my first 5 crochet projects going to be, that I myself will be using?
I have atleast 30+ projects I want to complete by the end of the year, ambitious yeah?

No, I'm not starting them at the same time, one by one.

Here's one. It's from the lionbrand.com site

pattern #30438AD
I might use a different yarn so that it has more of a drape to it.

Pattern# 90238AD
I love the motifs, but the colors are too muted for my taste

Pattern# 90189AD
Not a fan of turtlenecks, so I believe I'll get rid of the turtle neck & make it an off the shoulder kind of sweater

Pattern #90136ad
I want to add lining to this & some applique or other embellishments.

I think I'll use this fabric:
If you don't know it's Joel Dewberry's woodgrain from his aviary line.
I am completely in love with it.

omg, hemp yarn & other natural fibers!!!

I found this retailer through a comment on RoseHip's Blog.

I've been scouring the internet for natural fiber yarns in favorable colors & quality.
I've even been looking for suede slipper soles that aren't sold in bulk, and guess what...
They have it.

Here are a few things I love:
Hemp yarn

Banana Silk, I didn't even know this exsists. Wonder if it smells like bananas. I love bananas

And Soy silk.


I will be saving my pennies for these.
www.paradisefibers.net

I now present a 99.9% finished wobbuffet.
The picture isn't too great, but I love the mosiac feature on my camera phone. 4 angles, 1 photo, no editing.
Now, should I make 4 of him & sell him on etsy?

Here's some info on him:
I didn't have any polyfill stuffing, so I used old plastic bags I have in my house. The only thing I use them for is to wrap poopy diapers, so I have more than enough. Good way to recycle eh?
He is about 4 inches tall.
I threw myself into embroidery so I have to practice on that. I used the chain stitch for his eyes & mouth. His tail isn't completely done, but I'm strapped for time today.

My first ami, my first stab at embroidery

I present a 95% finished Wobbuffet.

I couldn't find any patterns for him, so I free handed.
He turned out pretty well. I only had to unravel 2 rows only because I lost count.
Used a chain stitch for the embroidery, it's a little off but I'm sure I can go back & fix it.
What do you think?
I'm off to bed.

Busy busy busy....

I have created a list of things to crochet while I save up for sewing notions & study for my GED...No I am not an idiot, I just hated high school.

Anyway here are a few projects (by a few I mean atleast 30) that I have up my sleeves, I do how ever need to remember ONE AT A TIME!!! Hopefully these will keep me from smoking. Trying to quit by distraction.
Some are cardigans for women to infants, cowls, scarves & baby items.
I've got a WIP, it's a ripple blanket I'm making for my nephew who is due in June.
Of course sister wanted a plain baby blue...but I went for a Lagoon, coco & pistachio ripple blanket. I am having issues with it laying flat, but I think a gentle cycle through the wash & a flat dry will fix that.

Here's a photo:
I've gotten a lot further since this picture. I also made a few adjustments to the sequence of the striping.
At the center of the blanket I doubled the green & mirrored the stripes for the other half.
You can tell that it's curling at the beginning where the foundation chain is...Hopefully when I finish adding the border it will correct itself.

I also have another WIP...it's a granny square yoshi blanket...It's taking me forever since it has come out to be 800+ granny squares. I am very tired of it. I'll finish it one day. It was suppose to have been a Christmas present. Well Sylas has a poopy diaper so I bid you farewell :]

It has been awhile.

Let's do a quick catch-up:
1. moved into our new apartment 6 months ago.
No washer & dryer but we have a bigger oven & better water pressure
2. broke.
Bills just keep coming unexpectedly. A real bummer
3. got a car.
Got my income tax early in tax season & bought a 98' VW golf from my friend.
4. my boyfriend got me a little 3/4 size Singer beginner sewing machine to start out with...i suppose I can just make little totes bags, maybe some skirts. I'm thinking things that are no heavier than cotton :/
It really was a sweet gesture, spending the only money he had to buy me something I've always wanted. I'll keep it forever. Pinky swear.
5. the first project I made was a hook roll...It's really hideous. I will do for now.

I don't want to seriously make something until I have the right things to use.
My tool box contains:
very dull, almost broken scissors
very cheap yarn
a paper measuring tape stolen from my son's pediatrician's office
sharpies
dollar store gift tissue paper in various colors.
the fabric I have to work with are: old pj's & hoodies.

Really quite pathetic but, it will do for now.
Maybe...just maybe I can get very good at sewing by working with horrible notions.

Other than that life is good. It could be better. I really am tired of working at mcdonald's.

Oh, yes I have a question:
Would you guys like to purchase mark. make-up? Please do check it out at:
www.mymarkstore.hhoang.com

Oh also, I did launch my etsy.com store but I only have crocheted items in it:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HHoang