Sheepie Knits

Ginger cookies, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

Ginger Cookies-BIG cookies that are so yummy and have the perfect touch of spice.
With the cold temps we have coming through right now they are perfect with tea, hot chocolate or coffee drink.

i have been kinda lazy with my knitting(and everything else) but the sewing bug has come back for a visit Some pics soon.

When we returned home on Monday i went to the Post Office to pick up our held mail. I had an expected package that came earlier than i thought it would. Goodies from my grandma in Germany.

I asked my grandma if she would mind picking me up sock yarn whenever she saw a good deal. When i was there i got some that were 1.99 euros or 3.99 euros on sale so i got some good deals-cheaper than here (no offense to any yarn shops or dyers). Anyway she said no problem and next time we spoke she said she already had some for me.

First Yarn for Barn raising Quilt, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

Yummy!!! i love what she picked out and on sale!! So you may be thinking i have some serious sock knitting plans coming but i have other plans for these beauties.

Squares!! and these squares will then be put together to make this!
The six balls shown aren’t going to be enough i have a couple already that i may use and my grandma said she continue to be on lookout for deals. But i will be busy for quite some time with these balls.

i also want to work on a swatch this weekend for this. ( scroll down to 3rd row of pics and its the dress in the middle) It looks cute and hopefully i can pull it off but i won’t be making it as long.
What do you guys think? i am not 100% sure on yarn yet but i was thinking a pastel purple. I am not giving myself a lot of options because whatever i choose it has to be cheap lol

Have a great weekend!

Luquillo Beach, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

Again back home as nice as it is to travel it is also nice to be back home.
So we went to Puerto Rico to see my dad and all my family down there. A cousin of mine was getting married and my dad was the Best Man so i thought it would be a good reason to make my way down there.
We had a really nice time. It was really nice seeing my dad, his wife and her daughters, aunts, cousins and their little ones and they got to meet my family as well. Its hard having all my family so far away and it makes us poor LOL so no more travels for awhile.
We went to the beach, drove around the island and visited some places. Had some yummy food!! it was all a lot of fun.

I made am halfway thru the heel of one of my socks-Yep that’s all i got done
I started a new project yesterday and will be swatching for a third soon too but more on all that next time or i won’t have anything to talk about!

Happy to be back-Hope you are all well! Some Knitting News tomorrow.

Socks of Kindness, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

Yay!! I finished my socks.
Name: Zigzagy Socks
Project: Socks of Kindness, A recipe
Made: for Me
Dates: Dec. 29, 2007-April 11, 2008-this was not Second Sock Syndrome-i just set it aside and neglected it.
Size: To fit my feet-8.5 shoe size
Needle: Size 2 Dps
Yarn: Wolle Rödel Sport & Strumpfwolle Color Extrastark
Notes: Easy pattern to memorize. I really like the recipe. I learned how to do a short row heel, using the tutorial the pattern links too. I am not sure if i like it doing it but i do like how the socks turned out and it is nice not having to pick up sts cause sometime my picked up sts don’t look super nice BUT trying to knit into 3 sts was a bit of a pain and tried my patience. I think i was partially at fault by making my wraps to tight, even thought i tried not to. Overall-love them! Oh and that little string inbetween my socks-all that was left when i was done-whew it was a close one.

We are off on a little vacation so there will be some blog silence.
But of course i am taking some knitting with me-i am thinking only one project because we will be doing a lot of stuff and i am unsure of knitting time and well none of my family on my dad’s are knitters(that i am aware of-he was kinda surprised when i was working on it on his last visit like it hadn’t seen knitting before) so i don’t think they will really understand if i whip out my knitting and i do not want to offend but another ball of sock yarn may sneak into my suitcase just in case.
i have been doing some shopping at The Loopy Ewe and got a Go Knits pouch, Regia Bamboo yarn and Dp needle holder are all ready to go The pattern going with me is Burning Rings of Fire (pdf), not to complicated but not boring either-a great pattern!

Don’t have to much fun without me See you guys soon!!!

My Little Man is 4 today!! I can’t believe it.  He is growing up so fast!

I love you so much buddy! Hope your birthday is full of joy and happiness and for many years to follow!!

“They play games just so i can cuddle up in the game box”

It’s cold, cloudy and rainy and i have had nothing to talk about all week.

So i am going to tell you how i am tidying the house, figuring out what we need and don’t need for our trip next week. I hate packing! I never feel like i have done it correctly-i feel like it’s to little or too much, usually too much. We have 2 suitcases and a garment bag-That feels like so much and the garment bag has fancy things for the wedding we have to attend and here i was hoping for basically no carry on.  But either way i am looking forward to the trip.

I have been knitting on my socks that i started WAY back in December-i couldn’t justify starting another pair of socks unless i had finished or really close to finished the ones i already had in progress.  Then i won’t feel so bad working on socks on the trip.  I’ll show you what i’ll be knitting in the next post-i bought some goodies for my trip

So anyway, since i am so boring go check out these friends for some knitting and excitement-2 things i am lacking in this week haha ;)

Stacey excitement

Jen knitting

First of all, Seth says thanks for all the love.

Oh boy-so about a year and a half ago i started learning crochet and i did alright but it just wasn’t sticking so i set it aside.

i was at Joann craft store and i came across this book:

Amigurumi! Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty 

i love the dolls, she refers to them as humanoids. There are some other cute patterns as well like the carrot, strawberries, a cheeseburger with the works, all things i could make for Little Man’s kitchen. Also more cute animals that made me think well these look fun and maybe if i am having fun and looking forward to the end result then i would get more into it, plus i had a 40% coupon

So i started out with the first project-A carrot.

Carrot, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

It looks okay-very carrot-like but i am doing something wrong…and i can’t figure out how to fix it. It’s hard to see but basically where i am joining my row and starting the next one you get a little seam and my seam is twisting all around my carrot and it shouldn’t. It should stay in a pretty straight line going up the “back” of the project. I movd on and made a strawberry as well-same problem so again i have set my crocheting aside again to work on what i know knitting cute animals

When we get back from our trip then i will pull it back out but i have a lot going on right now and until we leave. i have a crochet book from Debbie Stoller and i think i need to just go back and start from the beginning and relearn all the little details i need to know again. i mean i remember all the basics but something isn’t clicking so i think it will help.
Do any of you crochet or have you tried it?

A couple years ago i think Jess Hutchison came out with a little booklet of adorable knitted toys. I don’t recall my first encounter with the booklet online but i knew right away i wanted it and it was no where to be found. I signed up for the waiting list and waited and waited and then got the dreaded email-There would be no reprint of the booklet, Jess was moving on to other things. I put a search on ebay, looked on forums to see if there one ever popped up. After a few months i got an email from ebay that one was up for bid-it finally sold for 150 i think-not to me-i don’t have that kind of cash for a little book. A couple months later same thing but this time they sold for over 200 bucks. WOAH!! Let’s just say i gave up!!
i forgot about it for awhile and try not to get mopey when i saw the cute things others were making (yeah i know i am pathetic). Well since i have been making some cute knitted toy lately i thought i would join the group on Ravelry. When i searched for that group a Jess Hutch group also popped up and…i had to look. Nothing really jumped out at me on the forum until i clicked on Hutch Patterns-Jess had given someone permission to share her pattern booklet!!!!!!!!! I was so excited i squealed! i kept reading to find out what i had to do, landed on the last page and found out the kind person had quit doing it days ago. Talk about defeated, i was having no luck with this silly book but it renewed my need to search for it. Finally i emailed jess and she gave me permission to get a copy from whoever was willing to give me one and i posted on the group pleading for a copy-okay not really i kept my cool and I got replies!!!! This wonderful person helped me out and i am very thankful and of course to the other offers that came after as well!!
i got my copy and immediately got to work.

Seth the Bear, originally uploaded by Craftydiddl.

Meet Seth the Bear!!!!

Pattern: Henry the Bear from Unusual Knitted Toys

Made for: Me

Dates: March 30-April 1, 2008

Yarn: Vanna’s Choice in Taupe for bear, Caron Simply Soft in black for pants and Caron Simply Brites for the shirt and “S”. They don’t have their label anymore so i am unsure of exact color names.

Needles: 8 double points

Notes: I loved this pattern. It’s knit in the round so no seaming!!!!! It’s a super quick project. I learned a new way of attaching the limbs to the body, the booklet said its from World of Knitted Toys by Kath Dalmeny. In the end it gives the appearance that the limb is knitted on-its almost like grafting-sorry not much help but i have no idea what the technique is called. It is a bit tricky but i figured it out quickly.
I just love him-he turned out way better than i expected him to.

More Unusual Friends will be coming soon.

I have also been dabbling in some crochet-more on that tomorrow.