Valentimes

Thank you for the Valentine's Day wishes! I hope everyone had a wonderful day! :)

I myself had an amazing Valentine's Day! I got beautiful roses and chocolates, as well as knocked hubby's socks off with my surprise...

I got home early from school, ran through the store, picked up some bubbly, made sushi (warp speed, it was like the iron chef!) and cleaned up a bit. Oh and of course put on a dress, although I didn't have time to do my hair before he got home. Lol!

The sushi was salmon or (imitation) crab *cough student budget cough* with the usual culprits of avocado and cucumber, but also a bit of carrot and bell pepper for color. I loved the crunch the carrot brought, it's definitely going in my sushi from now on since I am a self-proclaimed "texture eater". 

We ate it with some chopsticks we got as a wedding present (the Japan honeymoon theme) and drank green tea out of our little Japanese cups bought from an outdoor flea market in Kyoto. I swear people drank tea out of these bowls and I'm not making it up! I even drank tea out of these in our hotel room then, hahaha!

The bubbly was poured into our wedding champagne flutes (since that's all we own) and we both enjoyed trying to photograph the bubbles, golden liquid, candlelight, and our etched initials. Gotta love having hobbies in common!

Dessert was a warm chocolate cobbler that I added large chunks of dark chocolate to for that molten lava cake effect. I really did want to make molten lava cakes but I need to expand my ramekin collection...and remember to buy eggs next time. Hah! 

The chocolate concoction went down nicely paired with a coconut whipped cream. Mmm.

I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the roses in the candlelight. I sure do love a good flower picture!

Ah, so that was the last holiday as a married first. 

We have been doing a lot of reflection with our impending first anniversary and I must say, it's still hard to believe it's been almost a year!!

Thanks for reading! I have some scarf and hat pictures to share for next time! :)

grannies

Granny-ing. 

I promised pictures and couldn't contain my excitement anymore. No more waiting for better lighting! :)

This aqua blue in some of the squares is a new addition. My mom spotted the need for a lighter blue the day we decided on a blanket from her yarn, so when I saw this blue, my heart skipped a beat. Honestly, this aqua blue isn't a stranger to me, it made my heart flutter last summer when I was making my granny stripe blanket and stumbled across it in the store. It's obviously my favorite color to work with, along with that beautiful light pink!

My mama and I noticed yesterday that we were missing some colors: yellow and white. The yellow wasn't a surprise as my mom is by no means a fan of the color. The white however we had to think about adding, but we decided it would be distracting. It's beautiful the way it is! :)

If you are interested in making squares like these (I love this classic granny!) check out this link. (the purl bee). 

Thanks for reading, have a happy Friday night and weekend! :)

Crochet crazy 2011

Since this is a crochet blog, or started out as one anyway, here is the 2011 finished projects recap! 

(oh my gosh, the pre-Rebel photos!)

January 2011

tortoise from  "Super super cute crochet" by Brigitte Read

Sister-in-law's tortoise pattern from Roman Sock

The phone case of my own design. Yeah, I still don't use a phone case. Even though I made another one!

February 2011

Phone case #2

I started these Circles in a Square back in February, but it took me until JULY to complete the front of it. Then I put it on hold thinking I was going to make the back for it out of an old thrift store sweater. Yeah, good luck with that one! There is NOTHING nice and cheap enough to cut up in this town! I keep looking, but I think in 2012, this project is going to have to get finished  with a granny square back!

And hopefully in time for the friend's February birthday that I started making it for... A year to finish a pillow, not so bad, eh? Lol!

March 2011

What an amazing month! I had my whole family together in one place at one time for the first time in about 2 years. I loved it! 

We got married. 

We went to Japan. 

I didn't get much crocheting done. 

Haha, I was trying to get a wedding shawl done but ended up not liking it OR finishing it. Go figure...

April 2011

The wedding wraplet, almost finished. I shortly after this did finish it and decided to scrap the whole thing. It's in my rather large white-pink-gray yarn collection hoping to one day become a gorgeous ripple or hexagon or granny blanket. 

Dorothea Wraplet from Lion Brand

The sock knitter's acorn that I made for my aunt who is an avid sock knitter.

Pattern from Roman Sock

I had a quick project crocheting some flowers from Attic 24 for the Easter "tree".

May 2011

The first pictures pop up on the blog of my first ever blanket, the blue-green-brown granny stripe. I used the pattern/tutorial from the afore linked Attic 24.

I made my mom a mother's day cupcake. Pattern linked here.

Progress of my blanket about half way through May...

June 2011

Not much crocheting, except for the blanket. And then, I stopped at some point in the summer heat.

And I started a quilt. Which has thus far been mostly sewn by my lovely husband. I think I should tend to this in 2012? It would look lovely on our bed.

July 2011

What a gorgeous flower photo month!!

So in love with the Novita "puro" that it was enough for me to just crochet blocks. I had planned on collecting 2 skeins of each (variegated) color and then sewing them together to make a tapestry or blanket. Ah, WIP still.

The never-ending granny stripe adventure... to be continued in 2012. Hopefully not still in 2013. Hahaha...

The front of the godmother granny square. The pattern is from Attic 24, which I have already linked to somewhere earlier... Have I mentioned Lucy of 24 is great?

August 2011

I started the yellow and orange "creamsicle" pillow. No one wanted it, it's somewhere in a closet. Leave a comment if you are interested! :)

September 2011

Ah, busy month. Moving, Florida, Wedding, School PANIC. 

That's what I remember most.

I did crochet a wreath for our new front door. Or well, I suppose this is a door decoration or something. 

I used the patterns from Lesley Stanfield's great books.

I gave this rose to my mom. It's also from the Lesley Stanfield book.

I also puttered around with other patterns in the books, but for some reason, haven't taken pictures of them all. Ah, I need to make a consistent project with a bunch of flowers, it's kind of a shame they're so time consuming to learn!

September was also the last time I added a row to this blanket. Ah, pinterest in the background. Another new addiction this year.

October 2011

Apparently not much crocheting going on at all in October?! What was I doing? Oh, that's right, other stuff.

Lol!

We did get this crocheted blanket from my husband's grandma. :)

November 2011

Ah yes, the end was the start of the worst part of the year - my mom went to the hospital. It was serious.

Until then though, it was a creative breeze, in all aspects. I was busy making Christmas presents both crochet and paintings. It was also a busy month food and baking wise!

Our Christmas door wreath. I used the Lesley Stanfield pattern. Perhaps, I'll try Attic 24 Lucy's pattern for next year and add some more holly love to this.

I crocheted actually TWO Christmas holiday pillow covers. And I had the sweater to sew them to. However, this project was put on hold because of my mom's condition and being clueless as to using the sewing machine without her. My husband finally ended up sewing the pillow case for the other one I made (no pictures apparently). I still need to add another row of edging and then sew the crochet bit to the sweater bit. Therefore I fear this is a complete in January 2012 project that will be promptly put away in the Christmas box to await next Christmas. Kind of sad.

This was the first completed South Bay Shawlette by Lion Brand that I completed. It went to a special aunt from Cali. :)

December 2011

The other THREE south bay shawlettes. Man, I love this pattern. HIGHLY recommend it!

Trendy mustard yellow for Trendy Spunky Friend. :)

Mauve-y rose for my mama. Love ya!

Dark gray for my friend who requested a dark color. If I had made one for myself, I probably would have chosen this gray. 

Yeah, I think it's been a productive year in crochet alone! 

Wowwee!

Thanks for reading! :)

Small crocheted happiness

Good morning all! I love having Monday mornings off! It's my second one in a row, being a third year student is great! We have the most wonderful laid back schedule this fall. It's simply awesome! :) The sun is shining, the coffee is plentiful and I can spend all day crocheting if I want to. (or I could do some school work now instead of later...lol)

Here is some randomness before the crochet reveal...

Simple pleasures of owning a cat: kitty paws. They are toooooooo cute!

Simple pleasures of a beautiful old white bed with gorgeous pillows. I loves. (both the pillows were flea market finds and there is my strawberry!)

My Saturday's work... I finished it Sunday morning when the hubby left to work on his mushroom table (coming along nicely!). It kind of reminds us of a dreamcatcher because of the circular shape, doesn't it? It is really the bottom of a basket that the naughty bear-boy ripped up in protest of us leaving last week. Nothing nicer than coming home to a pile of sticks. (Grrr.) The shape of the bottom caught my eye though and I salvaged it into this! The patterns are from Lesley Stanfield's books, the mushroom is her cep mushroom pattern but I used white and red instead of browns. I really ended up liking the sunflower, even though when I have paged through the book before I've thought it's ugly. I gave it a shot though because I wanted a fall flower and it seemed right for the basket bottom too, glad I did! :)

The circles weren't included in the pattern, but I made them by making a magic ring and then crocheting 4-6 sc into it and then closing with a ss. It worked out rather well.

Here's how it looked after it was hung on our front door! The picture's not the best, but you get the idea!

I also crocheted this Irish rose, pretty isn't it. I just don't know what I should do with them so I gave this one to my mom to admire. She loves pink!

This is my failed half apple. I spent probably 2 hours trying and unravelling this. I swear I must have started over at least 5 times. I was SOOO MAD. I could not figure this out for the life of me. I can't decide if it's the pattern or me with the problem! It kept coming out lopsided like seen below. Anyone have any tips where I went wrong???

I would have crocheted more yesterday, but we took a trip to Ikea for some dishes and more importantly, a bathroom cabinet. We've had an awful time with this bathroom, as in hate is mild expression for my feelings towards it, but things are starting to look up with it. 

White dishes --> better looking food --> better food photography. :)

We bought the Fullen cabinet because while the Lillangen model had a door and was slightly larger, 39e beats 99e in the eyes of poor students any day of the week. If we owned this apartment and reaped the benefits of home improvements, I'd have gotten the god morgon series, which you drill into the wall (speaking of drilling, see the old holes they have yet to come and patch argh), it costs 199e though! Way out of our budget!

For the open shelves, I have to look for some cool tins and containers for things like q-tips and cotton balls. Hopefully I find something nice in the flea markets!

Having a kitty in my lap cuddling is making it rather hard to type (one-handed), so I think I'll end it here for today! Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Monday!