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 :)

Cables Galore!

Yay! I finally finished another crochet project this semester. Let me tell you, it is hard to work some crochet into my college life, especially now since I switched to an art major. Crochet and drawing projects? I do not think so. College has to come first. I mean I do have to pass my classes no matter how much I wish to crochet. I told Mama recently that I was just going to drop out of college and crochet my way to fame. Psh, if only life worked that way. Only the lucky few get to actually live off of a job they are in love with. Maybe one day.

Anyways, I found this great pattern on Etsy by KnotSewCute for a matching cable tam and scarf. Took a bit longer than the hats I have made in the past, but you have to make time for perfection! Crocheted cables look pretty fantastic, I must add. It is very easy to trick someone into thinking it was knitted. Only the crocheter knows the truth.

My hat turned out well, took me about ten days to make (so says Ravelry). Of course, I rarely worked on it during the school week, mostly just on weekends. So in all, hmm... maybe eight hours of work? More or less. I need to start keeping up with that better and set time aside for crocheting in general. So, eight hours of work for one hat made with one skein of ten dollar yarn.

Speaking of yarn, I just love this yarn. I bought it when I took my crochet class in Cocoa Village. Ten dollars for some oh so colorful yarn, not to mention soft. Yes. I bought two skeins of it that day, never regretted it either. This yarn is by Marks & Kattens, their Big Trend family. The yarn I bought is color 405, which is a mixture of blues, greens, purples, pinks, and reds. Also, it is made of a wool and acrylic mixture, so it is really soft and warm. Fell in love, yes. So much so that I ordered three more skeins online. :D

I decided I did not have enough to make the matching scarf, so, of course, I ordered more of this wonderful yarn. Now I am making matching fingerless owl mitts, you know, with the cables that make an owl on the top of your hand. Love owls. So far I have made one, but have not had the chance to put the button eyes on yet. Pictures soon!

Cannot wait for the rest of my yarn to arrive so I can get to crocheting on my scarf!

Step Away From the Books!

Well, after almost a month of being away from the blogging world, many things have taken place. For one, I moved back into the dorms and started college for the fall semester. This is my second year at GSW, and so far this is the busiest semester I have had. I ended up changing my major to Art and minor to Professional Writing, basically the exact opposite of what I was doing the previous year. Now I am taking beginning drawing, art history, intro to professional writing, yoga, British literature, and computer applications (online). Busy? Yes, indeed. I feel like all I do is go to class and come back to my room to do homework. No time for crochet! :( Hopefully once I get further into the semester and work some amazing time management skills, I will be able to start crocheting again. I guess my plans for doing craft fairs are just going to have to wait for another time, because there is definitely no way I would be ready in time with this class load. 

Other than college, I have did finally make my owl pillows and took pictures for all to see! They look great on my futon in my dorm room, and they match my blanket, making them even better. If someone that had never met me saw my room, there is no doubt they would know I love owls. They seem to be taking over, just the way I like it.

Also, I did start and finish one crochet project the first week of school. I crocheted myself a yoga mat bag since I was planning on taking the group classes in the morning. Then I ended up actually taking the educational class. Two birds, one stone. Now I will have my PE out of the way. The yoga mat bag is made out of 100% U.S. grown cotton, which is surprising since nothing is made in the U.S. anymore. Anyways, the yarn, I love. I plan to use it again for sure.

 

Well, hopefully once things start dying down around here, if they ever will, I will be able to start some more crochet projects and teach myself to knit! I bought myself a “teach yourself to knit” kit from Walmart. Super excited to break it out, whenever I get the time.

For now, back to the books.

It's Official...

I now have business cards! After slaving away on the computer, making, remaking, deleting, and all that good stuff, I finally finished making them today. I must say, they turned out very nice. Of course, I had to be all OCD about them, making everything just perfect, that's why it took forever and a day. I just could not decide on which flower to put on them: normal sunflower or colorful sunflower that I had made online with Aviary. Even my sister could not help me decide. Complete toss up. I could not handle it, so I did not use either one. Instead, I crocheted up a little motley sunflower and took pictures. Then, I went through the painful process of taking out the background so it would just be the flower and not some white background square. Finally, they were finished, after copying and pasting each item on each square; nothing can be simple, I swear. 

Also today, worked in my room some, getting ready to move back up to college. It is actually starting to look better. I’m not afraid to throw things away anymore, gosh, such a pack rat. Get that from my mother, has to keep item that touches her life. Maybe, just maybe, it will be completed to perfection by next Saturday.

By the way, check out One Sheepish Girl blog and enter her giveaway! It is her birthday month for her blog, etsy, and herself. So check her out! I love her stuff, hopefully I will win something and you will too!