Fiber arts block?

So, on my needles for the past 2 weeks has been my mom's scarf. I am working up super bulky yarn on #10 needles and it seems like it's going nowhere slowly. I also have some Illini hats to crochet, and if anyone who reads this notices my "To Do" and "completed" list, they will notice that in the last week, Rooster's Illini hat has gone from to do, to completed and back to the to do list. I tried to make it in just a few hours, and was really truly unhappy with how it turned out. Not to mention that because I was rushing myself, it ended up too small. I was feeling completely burned out on fiber arts. I live on instant gratification and if I can't see the fruits of my labor materialize in a few hours, I get disheartened. Also, I refuse to take that scarf to another wrestling meet, the people in our group are going to think that I just cart it around and don't work on it which of course, isn't true. At Senior Night last week, I knitted at least 20 rows in 2 hours, while watching wrestling and chit chatting.
Anyhoo...yesterday, I had to return some books to the library and a few of the books I had been waiting for were in: 101 Designer One Skein Wonders - it has some cute patterns, and I actually cast on for the "Not Your Average Washcloth" last night and finished it. I love it! After the library, I popped on over to "Half Price Books" I had never been there, they had an OK selection of knitting/ crochet books. I got the following books:
After Dark: Uncommon Knits for Night Time (Jil Eaton)for $3.00
Crochet Style (Shannon Okey) $9.98
Ultimate Knitters Guide (Kate Buller) $2.00
Cool Girls Guide to Crochet (Nicki Trench) $5.98

Then, I walked down the plaza to Tuesday Morning (kind of a last stop for discontinued household stuff) and found:
Cozy Crochet - Melissa Leapman $2.99
Better Homes & Gardens Hip Knits - $4.99 and when I walked around the corner, they had knitting needles - how odd! There were 3 packs bound together, 2 pair of #6 and a pair of #13 together (?) and then 2 packs bound together with circular needles (#6 & #8), each for $1.99.
Why not?
So, all in all, it was a good shopping day to refresh with. I came home and made a cat mat, a felted swatch and a neat washcloth (which I KNITTED!)

On a side note, I really enjoy knitting.

Happy Crafting!
Jenn

More time to crochet

Well, a week ago, I was laid off from my job. It came as a total shock to me, I was not expecting it at all. So, theoretically, I have had a ton of time to crochet/ knit. Now that I have the time, I am suffering from lack of motivation! I ripped out the Baby Turtle blanket, and decided to make it a round baby blanket (that way I don't have to worry about my rows!) I went over to my mom's on Tuesday and she told me that she got some yarn from Big Lots (I'm not sure if they are everywhere -but they basically have things that have been discontinued or overstock from other stores) and found some Patons Bohemian super chunky yarn for $1 a skein.

"Was there more?" I asked, since they don't generally carry yarn.

She handed me the skeins and said that she would like a skinny scarf made from it. I said Okey Dokey! I dragged her along to Big Lots to see if they still had this discount yarn...they did!

I spent $30 for 30 skeins of yarn, they had Patons Brilliant, Lacette, Be Mine & Glittalic in assorted colors - I had to ask that my mom please lead me away, before I bought all of it. It was just in tubs on the floor (you know how I feel about clearance...) I got home and added it to my stash, and thought - OK, now. What am I going to do with all this???

I did find that I am more productive when someone hands me yarn and says 'Make me something!" (as my mom had) That Bohemian yarn knits up so thick! I love it! It's like chenille and looks so nice!

Also, last night I decided to make an iPod holder for Mike, and felt it!

I made it of Lion Brand Wool for felting in dark teal, I forgot to measure pre-felting but I'd say it shrunk about an inch. I live in an apartment that does not have washers in the apartments so I tried using the machine in our laundry room. There was no option to change load size and the water didn't get very hot, so I ended up hand felting in the kitchen sink. It's OK, next time I attempt felting, I will do it in my mom's washer, for free.

Take Care!
Jenn

Wrestling & Yarn

As planned, Mike and I went to watch RBCHS Rocket Wrestling yesterday morning. I got to spend some time with my mom & sisters and even got several rows of the baby blanket done while we watched my nephew dominate on the mat (like always, in my nephew's 4 years of high school he has only lost one match and that was last year's championship match in Champaign for the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament versus Mike Benefiel from Lombard/Montini who was ranked number 1 in the nation at that time - If you're going to lose, might as well lose to the best, right? If you're interested - you can read about that match here: http://mchenrycountysports.com/articles/2007/02/20/winter_sports/wrestling/doc45d7f0788e159289664556.txt

"PIN!"

Yes, I do crochet in public!

Anyways...back to yarn!

Since we were already in Round Lake, I convinced Mike that we should stop by Hannah's in Antioch so I could check out their yarn. He obliged but stayed in the car & listened to Harry Potter book 7 on his iPod.
At Hannah's, they had a lot of wool & wool blends. They did have a really nice clearance section (what can I say, I love me some clearance!) I found a great 100% Peruvian highland wool in a pinky/ orange colorway - I looked on their site www.cascadeyarns.com
to see if that colorway has a name, it doesn't. Simply #9438. I also bought a small ball of Idena Sorbetto yarn in a blue/ aqua colorway that is a 90/10 cotton/ poly amide blend.
I really don't know why I always buy a ball of cotton yarn. I have several, but I'm not sure what to do with them other than make dishcloths.

(L) Idena Sorbetto (R) Cascade Yarns Quatro

I was only in Hannah's for about 40 minutes (only...LOL) and when I got back in the car, I headed to Wool, Warp & Wheel in Richmond. OH MY GOSH!!!
The first thing I saw was a bible verse above the door, Jeremiah 29: 11-12.
I felt like I was walking into a cozy living room, there was Celtic music piped in and wall to wall yarn and spinning equipment, Molly the dog greeted me at the door. I walked a bit further in and in the back of the shop was an old timey wood burning fireplace and a man knitting :)
A woman greeted me immediately, and when I said I wanted to learn to knit, she showed me how! I sat in the shop and listened to stories, people coming and going & learned to knit!
I finally decided to purchase a set of needles, some yarn & a pattern for a scarf!
When I walked out the door, Mike was eyeing me contemptuously through the car window.
I had been in the shop for an HOUR AND A HALF!!! I felt so bad! He had been sitting there, and his iPod battery died, so he was just skipping around the radio. I know he was pissed, but he didn't dwell on it. When I came out with just a small shopping bag (which contained my new needles and 2 balls of yarn) he said "I kind of expected that you'd have a bigger bag." - LOL
Wool, Warp & Wheel is a hidden gem in Richmond, IL (I love that town, anyways.) They have Jenn friendly hours (7p-9:30p weekdays & 10a-5p on weekends).
So, I was high on yarn endorphins : )

(L) 100% pure wool in "Purple Haze" & my new Brittany knitting needles!
(R) The same yarn, same color. The color on the left is more accurate for color.

Mike and I were invited to a house re-warming party for our friend Lev, so we headed out to Wildwood with our dog for a play date with Levi's dog Jake (aka The Polar Bear). The dogs were sent outside to play, and I decided to open the kitchen window and give them each a burger. They both popped their heads and paws into the sill and it looked like a doggie drive thru window. So cute!

"You forgot the fries!"

Enjoy your Sunday!
Take Care,
Jenn

INSOMNIA!

Surprise! It's 3:15a and I am still awake! Awake and online trying to find more yarn stores!
I did find one that just opened last year in my 2nd hometown, Richmond (I call it that because even though I wasn't raised there, I lived there for 5 years and truly miss it!)
So, after wrestling tomorrow I have 3 stops to make ( in this order):
Hannah's in Antioch
Wool, Warp & Wheel in Richmond (I can't wait!)
Gene Ann's in Barrington - this is the closest yarn store to me (since I refuse to go back to the store that snubbed me before I even had time to take off my coat.)
Hopefully, Gene Ann's will be my new LYS! Keep your fingers crossed!

I have to admit that I am still a little sore on the snubbing I received from that other store. I'm not even going to list the name because they don't deserve it. Hmmph!
(Insert 3 year old style temper tantrum here)
Happy Hooking!
Jenn

Yarn with a philosophy!

I just remembered some great yarn I saw at Mosaic Yarn Studio, it's called Mirasol Project and they have a great yarn called Cotanoni. It's a 60/40 Pima Cotton & Merino wool blend and the next time I go out there, I am definetly getting some! You can visit their site, http://www.mirasolperu.com/ - it really is heartwarming!

What a craptacular day!

Ugh! Today was just an awful day.
Three days ago, I decided to quit smoking (yay for me!) and went on the patch. The patch works great, however, one side effect is that it has made me an insomniac. Last night, I was awake until 3am! This would have been fine if I didn't have to be up at 8:30a to go to work this morning. I hit the snooze about 47 times this morning, and finally rolled over to see that it was 9:47a!!! I have to be to work at 10a! So, I scrambled out of bed, brushed my teeth, skipped the shower and got to work at 10:20a...yikes! The day went my miserably slow and I felt like garbage because I was tired and unshowered. On top of that, I woke up with some kind of weird cough. I never coughed when I smoked, now I have a non-smoker's cough?
What's up with that?
I came home and remembered that Mike had agreed to dog sit a friend's chihuahua (the dog is kind of finicky and high maintenance - unlike my 65# monster who is content to sleep on the bed and drink out of the toilet) so I walked in the door and this little yapper-type dog was just barking it up. This came as a shock because we have a boxer and he only barks when delivery guys come to the door. I was in no mood to cook dinner, so Mike and I ordered in and I retreated to the computer to file my taxes...because what better way to spend a crappy Friday night than to file your taxes? You know me...PARTAY! I finished my taxes and felt better because I am getting money back : )
That made me happy, and so I decided to crochet with that cotton yarn I posted a pic of in the last post (by the way, I found the label - it is Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, color # 204 - Lentil) I absolutely love the color, kind of a washed out gold with a neat texture. If you aren't already familiar with Mission Falls - here is a link to their site http://www.missionfalls.com/ . I made a hot pad/ dish cloth - kind of a kitchen multi-tasker.

I'm digging it, my first time doing shells!

This is the first hat that I made for myself (on the same day my mom showed me how to make doubles and triples)
It is made of almost one whole skein of Patons Shetland Chunky Tweeds in Oxford Grey Tweeds colorway.

(It's modeled on "Kyle" from my sister, Stacey's, salon - I always knew those creepy mannequin heads had a purpose!)

And, last but not least, the ripple baby blanket (actually, it's more zig-zaggy) for my Canadian friend, Azure's, baby boy who is due on Valentine's Day!

It's made with Yarn Bee brand "Little Britches" yarn in "Teddybear" colorway - which is 85% acrylic & 15% polyamide & super soft. It will have bands of 3 other colors from the same line

I just realize that it's only a month away! I'd better get cracking!

The good news is, we are knee deep in wrestling season, which means a lot of down time between matches=many rows get crocheted!

I went to a meet a few weeks ago for my nephew, Rooster, and my sister, Cheri, picked up a crochet hook and started crocheting (she has never been a "Crocheter" although all us girls know how - luckily, I always have a project or two with me - I'm not afraid to crochet in public!) and her rows were BEAUTIFUL!

AND! The fantastic end to a crappy day....

I got a blog comment from MARLY!!!

Now, I have a finished dish thingie, and a comment from my favorite pod caster!!

I guess this day wasn't so bad, after all : )

I should get to bed, tomorrow is a wrestling meet and I have a baby blankie to get done!

Wish the RBCHS Rockets & Jordan Blanton luck!

***I found which kind of yarn the other ball is: it's Knit One, Crochet Too! PJ's - Polar fleece ribbon #719 - lollipop

http://www.knitonecrochettoo.com/pjs.htm

Yarn Snob? No, Yarn SNUB!

About a month ago, my search for more of a yarn selection took Mike and I on a trek.
I had searched online for yarn shops in my area, lucky me I found a little yarn shop that was about 10 minutes from my house in Historic Long Grove. I don't know too much about the area, but they have loads of cute shops, including a fancy schmancy yarn shop. Mike willingly came along and we checked out a few of the shops and a little place that sold hot chocolate & hot apple cider so we each got a toasty drink to warm our hands and walked over to the yarn place. Since I had the hot chocolate, I made sure to look out for signs on the door that said "no food or beverage", y'know, something along those lines because I totally would have pitched my hot chocolate for an opportunity to ogle some high-end yarn. There was no sign, so I walked in and was in Yarn Mecca. It was wall to wall cashmere, silk, merino all the natural blends that I have yet to try. A woman approached me, and I swear, the look on her face was as though I had just walked through the front door of her home at 2am. With absolutely no expression on her face, she asked: "Can I help you?" I stated that I would like to take a look around, she looked me floor to ceiling and said "You can't have that in here!" meaning my hot chocolate. I glanced past her to see a bunch of ladies sitting at a big table, all holding their Starbuck's coffees, and for a split second I thought about dumping the drink just so I could walk around and touch some swanky yarn, but that lady just gave me a bad vibe. For a little background on me, if I get a bad vibe somewhere, I have to leave. Sadly, this has left Mike stranded in many a store (someday I will tell you about the "incident" I had at Wal-Mart) I looked at Mike and said "Let's go." he was puzzled, and once we got in the car, I wanted to cry. I really felt discriminated against (is that the right word?) Maybe the word is excluded. They had all this gorgeous yarn and pretty much told me that I can't see it. So, I was bummed. We set off again and I did a search for any other yarn shops on the internet on my phone, I found two more shops: Midwest Discount Yarn- I wasn't sure about the swankiness of this place, but imagined that it was a warehouse packed to the ceiling with skein upon skein of every yarn I could imagine - yeah, not so much. Turns out this place is on the North Side of Chicago, and it just so happened to start snowing heavily. Driving down Foster, I coined the term "Chicago Carwash" meaning that spray of slush that splashes up on the driver sides of parallel parked cars. Online, it said that Midwest Discount Yarn was open until 4pm on Saturdays. We arrived at 2pm (I figured that 2 hours was ample time to feel out the place.) We parked in front (parallel, so we could get a Chicago carwash...) and walked up to the door. Closed. CLOSED! It took us 2 hours to get there (because of the snow) Not even a note saying that they closed early. It really didn't matter, because it was wall to wall Red Heart (please see previous post for my comment on Red Heart - it has it's place.)
At this point I was sullen and downtrodden. An entire day wasted on a fancy yarn wild goose chase. There was one more stop to make, in Des Plaines, called Mosaic Yarn Studio. When I walked in, there was a woman who greeted me and when I told her that I had heard yarn lore about yarns made of things other that acrylic she happily showed me Noro yarn, Brown Sheep, Cascade and about a dozen others. Even yarn made of bamboo! The staff there were exactly what I was hoping I'd find on my yarn adventure. Helpful as all get out! I bought a ball of 100% cotton yarn in a golden yellow and some really cool flannel/ fleecey feeling variegated yarn. I can't wait to go back, probably after I get my income tax return : )
If you're ever in Des Plaines, IL - you must stop in to the Mosaic Yarn Studio (http://www.mosaicyarnstudio.com/) and lay out some dough for some absolutely GORGEOUS yarns and great info from the ladies!
(On a side note, I am totally embarrassed that I didn't save the labels for them and that I can't tell you what brand I purchased! I just took a pic of the yarn, though so you can guess if you'd like : )

Yarn Thing podcast

My iPod has been in my mom's possession for about 3 months. I realized that if I wanted it back, I'd have to buy her her own - so I did and she gladly returned mine.
Last Sunday, I was surfing iTunes and I thought I would do a search for crochet podcasts, I subscribed to several but my favorite is definetly "Yarn Thing" with Marly.
I loaded all the episodes on my iPod and set out to do my household duties - laundry mostly (the bane of my existance!) and laughed and laughed listening to Marly. It was nice to listen to someone talk about hobbies that I like, as everyone I know thinks I'm weird because I'm nearly 29 and I crochet (although I don't hear them complaining when they reap the benefits, right?)
So, now I'm a podcast junkie ; )
Way to go, Marly, I love your podcast & your virtual Sn'B's!
And in honor of the almighty Yarn Stash, here's a pic of mine (it's just a baby yarn stash...no mocking!)

Another blog??

Alright, this is officially my 3rd blog. I am trying really hard to find a niche in the blogging world, I have a myspace account (which is going to be disposed of shortly for personal reasons...) a livejournal (I am more loyal to that than anything else) and a Facebook...why the myspace and the facebook...I have no idea. Anyways...I have really been getting into my crocheting lately, I picked it up with the help of my dear BF Mike's mom. She was knitting scarves for a holiday craft drive and she asked if I knew how to knit. I told her that I was a crocheter and she said "Well, you'll probably get more use out of these than I will!" and gave me a set of hooks & invited me downstairs to check out her yarn stash. She had some great stuff - my favorite was the Red Heart Baby Teri...so soft! So, I crocheted some terrible scarves last year. My scarves looked like sick roadkill, and I could not figure out how to crochet in the round to make hats (what I really wanted to make!) so I got discouraged & set the hook and yarn to the side. Then, about 3 months ago, I was cleaning out my closet and moving my yarn to a better spot and the spark was ignited again. I figured out how to crochet in a tube shape, and formed my first hat. Then, I sat down with my mom (she showed me how to crochet when I was younger...I will recount that story another time) and she showed me how to double & triple crochet. I tell ya, my work moves alot faster with doubles! Of course, natural progression led me to bulk up my yarn stash and because I like clearance (my tip for clearance shopping: the best stuff is always on the floor, don't ask why because I don't know, it just is.) and I love coupons, I was hitting Michaels just about daily, mainly just to wander and touch things. I quickly discovered that I have mixed emotions for Red Heart acrylic yarn---> I swear I'm not a yarn snob, I believe that Red Heart has its place (like running along with a finer weight yarn, for example) but for hats....it's too scratchy, however, I love that you can really see your stitches - especially if you're learning a new stitch - I taught myself how to crochet in the round with that yarn (with the help of Debbie Stoller's Stitch & Bitch "Happy Hooker" book). I find that I really like bulky yarns, they work up quick & are oh so snuggly when crocheted into hats! My favorite is Wool Ease, but a fair (although acrylic) substitute is Bernat Softee Chunky or Yarn Bee Mosaic Twist. I have yet to venture into fun fur or eyelash yarn since they don't make very warm hats...LOL Another yarn that I dig is Paton's SWS (yes, yes...to anyone who is reading this and has already graduated from your basic craft store yarn selection, I apologize! I'll get there!) A month or so ago, I did discover that there are stores that sell yarn exclusively, mainly for knitters but I hoped they wouldn't see me schlepp in with my crocheted hat and send me packing! So, I will close this first post with a picture of my most recent project: A hat made exclusively for my nephew who signed on with the University of Illinois with a full ride wrestling scholarship - way to go, Jordan!
(I must say, it covers up his hideously cauliflowered ears wonderfully! - LOL)