WIP Project Update!

I just wanted to take the time to post some WIP updates. I started my sweater Wednesday and here is its progress so far :D

Center Motif (in daylight :D)

First I made the lovely center motif during Knit Night.

Front panel, sleeve, and Lucky.

And by tonight I have the front and back done, and one sleeve. So one more sleeve to go and then all that's left are blocking and seaming...whoohoo! I think my cat approves so far.

I'm making the small so there are no side panels...I'm still hoping it will fit and not be too stretched. I'm the same measurements as the medium so I decided to make the small so I could get some ease. It looks like its suppose to be pretty snug in the pictures.

Also here is my granny bag as it is right now...I think it might have to wait until my sweater is crocheted though before it gets love again. At least all the squares are done. 

New Yarn for my CAL Project

I bought some new yarn today! As I have mentioned before I attend a local "Knitting Night" here and I enjoy it very much! I showed a few of the regular girls my new copy of Crochet Today from Jan/Feb and told them I was thinking about doing the sweater from the front cover. Seen here:

A few of them liked it so much they decided they wanted to do it with me! So next week we will all start making it together. I'll keep you updated on our progress and hopefully we'll get a cute group picture when we are all done. 

I decided against the recommended yarn (Stitch Nation Full O' Sheep) and went with the very similar Sheep(ish) by Vickie Howell in this lovely turquoise color. It took me a minute to figure out what I wanted but after much deliberation in the yarn isle I finally decided on this.  There are so many beautiful colors though I would have picked them all! But I don't have many blue things so I went with that. The yarn is 70% acrylic 30% wool as compared to the 100% Stitch Nation yarn but I thought the acrylic blend was softer. Plus wool tends to make me a bit itchy so maybe I'll be more comfortable with this yarn. The hubbie will be proud of me though I managed to wrangle up enough competitor coupons to wrack up a whole $8 in savings! Plus the coupons from my JoAnn's app. I love how they let you use more than one coupon! I feel like a real bargain hunter. In the end this sweater will only cost me about $21. 

You can see my project details on my Ravelry: http://ravel.me/Firecracker197/phs

What people think I do: Crochet Artists

These have been popular, and I thought it would be cute to make one about crocheting. :P All in good fun :D

WIP: Granny Bag

Please excuse my hipster picture, my iPhone doesn't take the best quality of picture so I figured I would spice it up a little.

A little while ago I got the idea to make a bag with squares. Not a totally original idea, but this will be from my head so I guess you can call it my own design. I hope the complimentary yellows and purples will turn out ok in the end. For now this is all you get, you'll have to wait until I'm done to see my plan for it.

FO: Purple Cowl

It's funny how much slower I am at "Knitting Night" than I am at home. I guess it has to do with all the talking I do! I whipped the rest of this up this afternoon. It only took me about 2 hours to finish. Just in time to take pictures before the sun came down.

So you can see the shape is basically a tube of curvy ripples. It came together pretty easy and now I can say I know how to do ripples! Too bad it was 80F here today and I was too warm after only wearing it for 10 minutes outside. One can only hope for a freeze in March or April...which is what tends to happen around here.

My Ravelry Project: http://ravel.me/Firecracker197/cbc

In my Queue: February

Hello all! Since it's the beginning of a new month I thought it might be a good idea to write a post about what I have in my "to do" list. Every month I'll try and write a post talking about what I'm thinking about working on and what I want to try for my next project. Maybe some of you might find some of these projects interesting and inspiring too!

Recently I've been really into Cardigans!

I've never made a fitted garment in crochet before. Up until this point my projects have been shawls, scarves, hats, cowls. Mostly accessories that don't need to be sized or shaped. I thought that my next step in my crochet adventure should be making a cardigan. I think it will be a new challenge for me and I know I'll learn some great things along the way!

Here are some patterns I've been eyeing.

1. Simply Crochet: This book by Robyn Chachula has been on my wish list for quite some time now. I might have to find an excuse to buy it pretty soon. It is a wonderful collection of patterns by many talented designers. I really love her Float Cardigan and the Spa Shawl Top by Doris Chan. I really think the lacy designs of the two cardigans would be fun to do. They would help me learn some new stitch patterns, and they might actually be wearable here in Texas all year round.

2. The Dahlia Top by LilyGo. This top looks so nice and lacy but it's construction still looks very fitted and solid. I'd probably be making myself crazy crocheting my first cardigan in fingering weight yarn, but boy would it be worth it! I really just love how beautiful this top is. It sure would be a great challenge!

3. Drops Design 119-22: Waistcoat. I've always been in love with Drops designs. This cardigan seems like a good way to get started with garments. The construction seems simple enough and I'm actually intrigued by the creativity of the design. Who would have ever thought that you could crochet a circle, add a back, and then boom! You  have a cute little cardigan. Perfect for wearing over tanks or dresses.

So those are my favorites for now! Plus I've still got my Trefoil Throw to finish, and an idea for a bag that I'm making up on my own that I would like to do! So we'll see what the future holds for me in February! Looking forward to it though!

WIP: Purple Cowl

I know a lot of people do WIP Wednesday posts...and I think most of my posts might end up being on Wednesday since that is knitting night for me at the local yarn shop, but I just can't hold myself to always posting on certain specific days. So we'll just try and do a WIP once a week ok? Haha.

Here's tonight's Knitting Night picture:

Its going to be a ripple type cowl. The pattern is here: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0482.html?noImages=

The wonderful husband surprised me with this lovely yarn yesterday. I was having kind of a down day so he bought me some yarn to cheer me up! Yarn always makes me happy. This is Lion Brand Tweed Stripes in Orchid. I love purple! At first I was going to make the scarf that's on the label, but I decided I have made too many scarves for now. This cowl from the lion brand site will suit the yarn wonderfully I think. Now if it could just stop being 68 degrees every day I might actually get to wear it this winter.