News!

I know, it has been forever since my last post. This college semester has completely taken over my life, and many things have happened. Since my last post, I have used my spinning wheel more. I actually had an adventure one Saturday with a local spinning group. We spent all day spinning, talking, and eating. I also got a little crochet done, but not too much. As for my crochet, I finally finished my owl, Rosie, and made another mini version. Right now I am working on a baby blanket, although I have not worked on it this past week. My idea for the blanket ended up changing until I completely started over. Now, I am making a granny square blanket with a fabric back quilted to the crocheted part. Hopefully I will finish it and be able to do the quilted part the way I want to.

As for school, I decided to transfer after the semester and moved back home. If everything goes as planned, I will be able to apply for a co-op job at our local marine base. After I get done with the Business Logistics degree, I plan to start on a Web Design degree. I'm really looking forward to the web design, and hopefully I will actually be good at it.

My Etsy shop never opened like I planned. I'm telling you... school took over. Now that I only have three weeks left of spring semester, I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want my Etsy shop to be... its focus. Crochet in general has a very wide target audience, but if I narrow it down to something like crocheted jewelry or baby crocheted items and make my crochet more individual I think I will be able to stand out, maybe even be successful. So that is my goal right now... who am I as a crocheter?, the first part of my new Who am I? series. Join in! Everyone needs to just step back sometimes and say "Who am I exactly?" Follow along as I learn more about myself and you can learn about yourself too!

In other news, after getting some much  needed inspiration from Ashley of After Nine to Five, I started the Couch to 5K plan for the treadmill. Yesterday was my first day of the plan, and today, I must say, I am very sore. So, in honor of this new fitness kick, I'm going to start a blog series following my Couch to 5K journey. I would love for you to join me! Whether treadmill or outdoors, anyone can follow this plan, so by all means join me in my Couch to 5K journey.

So, new things to be looking forward to...

• Who am I as a crocheter? 
• Couch to 5K journey 
• Finished baby blanket
• SUMMER!

Hilliary :)

Loops on the Hook

As my second beach project of the week, I’m making a shell stitch crochet hook case. My hooks and all their friends are in desperate need of a home of their own, so what better time to make one! I must say, I came prepared for my vacation of laziness. Not only did I bring my current afghan project, but four other balls of yarn “just in case”. Luckily, one of those skeins happened to be a colorful mix of purples and greens, not to mention super soft. So far it seems to be the perfect choice of yarn for my hook case. The blending of the purple and green colors with the shell stitch really makes for an elegant, yet simple design. Cannot wait to see the finished product!

Also, I worked more on my crochet along afghan today. I guess you could consider this my third project of the week. I was able to finish up my first square’s edging, and I started, finished, and edged my second square of baby cables. It turned out really well, better than I expected. Once I block everything, the squares will look great and certainly will make for a lovely afghan. Being a large project, I may be working on this into my old age, but at least I will finish it, working square by square, stitch by stitch.

 
Speaking of my crochet along class, after my class I just had to take a look at all of the yarns in the store. Of course, I had to buy something. Ended up spending another thirty dollars, oh well. I purchased two skeins of a colorful yarn that is somewhere between medium and fine weight. Planning on finally making myself something, a slouchy hat and matching scarf. Should be eye catching for sure with all those colors. Along with my yarn, I bought my first bamboo crochet hook, size G. Could not wait to use it, so, needless to say, I used it today. Haha. 

Another square, more shells, and maybe a hat tomorrow!

Crochet Along

Today was my crochet along afghan class at the local shop Knit and Stitch in Cocoa Village. of course, I would be the only one to sign up for the class, but hey, more attention for little ole’ me. This afghan was probably the best one for me to be taking a class on. Each square of the afghan has a different cable stitch, ultimately teaching me 63 (holy cow!) cable stitches. Considering the cable stitch is one of the only things I have not attempted yet, by the time I’m done with this project I will be an expert!

The majority of the people at the store are knitters, hence “Knit and Stitch,” but they do teach some crochet classes. Luckily, I was down here for this one. I had never been in a specialty yarn shop before until now. At this store, people come in all day to knit their on latest projects with the assistance and company of the store workers and friends. Its great to know there are places like this where you can just come in, sit, relax, and crochet until your heart is content. Wish there were places like this back home! Might end up going back tomorrow night for open table night, who knows.

Back to crocheting!

Sorry for poor quality pictures. Taken with cell phone.

Nineteen Candles

I wished for a crafty birthday, a weekend full of laziness but creativeness. Waltzing into those final moments before the clock struck twelve,  I was in the kitchen melting wax, getting ready to make my very first candle. It could be called my “birthday candle” I suppose. Purplish with a “peace sign looking” design, seemed to be a success. Of course, my sister called dibs on the candle so I didn’t get to make my own until the next day, another successful candle. 

Also, I have been working on my “Little Hooter” for a while now off and on. Work just takes over during the week, but I made sure I finished him this weekend. He turned out real cute and fluffy with a “lucky wing” (Finding Nemo)since I didn’t pay close enough attention when I sewed it on. Oh well, I’m proud of my first Little Hooter especially since that was my first crocheted amigurumi. I hope to make more in the future, and definitely add to my Hooter collection. 

Along with my little crocheted owl, I decided to make one of those fleece blankets, the easy kind where you just cut strips all the way around and tie the two fabrics together. Since I have become crazy about owls lately, of course I picked a fleece that had cute little owls all over it. I bought the last of the “Snooze Owl” fleece at Hobby Lobby, sorry everyone else! The blanket turned out really well with owls on the top side and a solid blue on the other. Now I have the idea of making two matching pillows to have on my futon in my dorm room. Matching owl blanket and pillows? Oh yes! Now if only I could find that fabric again, crosses fingers. 

Overall, with my three crafting adventures my birthday weekend was a good one. We had ice cream cake from Dairy Queen (mmm, my favorite) that had an owl on it, haha, of course. First time my cake has not had a sunflower on it in years! Guess I have moved on to new things. :)