Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I'm Sorry To Say It...

...but I have decided I am going to be taking a blogging hiatus. I'm not sure for how long, and I'm not sure exactly what this means. I am full-swing into my Spring semester with six classes and still working part time. My winter break was delightful (and fruitful, crafting wise) but now I need to focus on The Ethics of Harry Potter (which I really hope I can share something about eventually), Biopsychology, Social Psychology, Orientation to the Psych. Major, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, and Classical Piano 1. ::Deep intake of breath:: Also, there is working at the bookstore, spending time with my significant other, and maintaining sanity to concern myself with. Over this semester I probably won't have much time for knitting, crocheting, or reading and I really don't think I will have time to blog about it. Much. I promise if I do, I will. Instead I am announcing my little break which I think is a nice alternative to simply not blogging for a few months, losing any readership, and then feeling terribly guilty. However, I will be back. I promise.  I will leave you with a few photos of what happened during our last few snow storms. Hopefully all those projects will be on Ravelry soon (where I am known as liveloveyarn) so you can grab the details.
















Until next time,
Peace&Love

Monday, January 10, 2011

I Meant To Write

Er. Blog? Really, though I did. I had a nice little "lets-look-at-the-year-and-discuss-resolutions" post all planned out for your reading pleasure. But the Time Eaters paid me a visit, and we all know how that ends. Not well. But alas, here I am. I wanted to share a few projects with you briefly and-still-hopefully-discuss-resolutions. First is a beret I wear approximately eight days a week. (For those humming The Beatles right now- I love you.) Really though, I love this hat to death and I will most likely wear it to that point. It is the Raspberry Beret patter by Linda Permann featured in Crochet Today Sept/Oct 2009. I made mine with Patons Classic Wool. I'm sure I made some mods but I made this beret so long ago that I have no idea what they are. "So long ago?", you say. Yes, maybe even a year ago. It went straight from the hook to my end and never really left. I was sitting around the other day and I realized I never even blogged it or put it on Ravelry.



It's adorable from the front and side, but the real surprise and stunner comes when you see the back.....


 Whammy! Isn't is pretty? I love that Linda was able to take something so beautiful and turn it into a fully functional accessory. Also, in this color it matches almost everything I own. I'm not quite sure it's for a beginner, but I am not one to tell someone what they can't do. A beginner with a lot of patience and ambition could probably crank this out. It took me all of a day. Best day I ever spent crocheting ;).

Also, there is this.  An off-the-fly Nook cover I made for my latest and greatest tech toy.

                                     

You can see the joins in this pic, so you know it was made in the round. I chained the length of the Nook then double crocheted in all the sts until the last. In the last st I crocheted two in one sp and then I crocheted in the bottom of the chain until the first where I crocheted two in on sp again. Then I joined and continued crocheting in the round until it fit and decreased accordingly for the flap. It was pretty easy and quick. I followed this tutorial by Robyn Chachula of Crochet by Faye for the frog closures. They took a few tries, but in the end I think they look pretty good for a first try. What do you think?


I think the simple double crochet body and contrasting frog closures give my new Nook case a very elegant and classy look . I used Encore Worsted for the body and Swish Worsted (left over from Mom's Cardi) for the closures.