Flight of Fancy

Back in June, I joined a CAL (crochet along) sponsored by Scheepjes.  We had the option of purchasing one of the kits that the designer put together or to use our own yarn.

I decided to go with the hummingbird kit.  And then later added the heron kit.

Each week, another clue was released.  Over the next 11 weeks, I crocheted 130 motifs (65 for each shawl).

Blocked them.  Bamboo skewers are great for this!

And then joined them together.  I added beads at the joins for a bit of extra sparkle.

So far only the heron has taken flight.  The hummingbird is in the process of being joined together.  Hopefully it won't be too much longer before it gets the chance to spread it's wings =)

Through this whole process, I learned some new techniques and got to work with some fabulous yarn.  I'm really excited to see what the next CAL is.

Craftiness

Farm life and the kids have been keeping me busy, but somehow I'm still finding time to get some crocheting done.

Since the birthdays and baby showers are past, I can share pictures of what I've been working on the last few weeks.

A baby blanket

This blanket was donated to the therapy center Sweet Pea goes to

A cotton shawl for the cooler summer nights

Fingerless gloves for Girly's birthday

I have more projects in the works, but can't show sneak peaks just yet =)

Reluctant Model

Another project hot off the hook.  Girly didn't want to model for me ;)

I used this pattern but modified the top to give it a bit of shape (curve).

We've Been Busy...

The summer has once again flown by.  And we've been pretty busy.

We took a trip to the Tulsa Zoo.

Squish got into a bit of a sticky situation ;)

A pic of the kids in the rain forest area.  My parents traveled to Peru to see the Mayan ruins and we just went to Tulsa.

The farm has been growing...

Six new baby chicks.  We now have 33 chickens (and 3 ducks).

We've had 2 litters of bunnies...  11 kits between the two.  This is a picture of Spot.  We'll be keeping this one =)

Progress has been made on the house.

Now the hard part (for us)- filling in the walls with cordwood...  But first we need to chop down and debark a bunch of trees =)

Girly made her first quilt.

I finished up a cardigan.  Now to wait for winter so I can wear it =)

Fresh Off the Hook

I've been taking more time to get some projects done.  Most of them are forcing me to figure out stitches (and how to decipher patterns!).  I'm having fun with all of it and look forward to each new project =)

This one will be on it's way as part of a Cheer Campaign I'm part of.  Can't give any other hints than that ;)

When I first started this one, I wasn't sure about the yarn or the pattern.  It wasn't until I was almost finished that I decided I loved it.  The variations in the colors give me almost an endless palate to match it with.  As I was trying it on at different stages, I have at least three shirts that work with it.

A couple months back, we adopted a cat.  But I've decided that the cat isn't the problem when I'm crocheting.  It's this little cutie.

Craftiness

Since our move, my sewing machine has been packed away in a box, somewhere in the tent...  I was feeling the loss of my craftiness, so I decided to dust off my crochet hooks and start hooking again.  In the last month or so, I've managed to finish up a few projects.  

Cute little Percy went to live with my friend Alison.

Hello Kitty came to live with us.  I think I need to make another one so the girls will stop fighting over who gets to wear it =)

I experimented with some new to me stitches and techniques.

(I need an adult model...  Or maybe get the littles to take better pictures of me ;) )

I love how the collar turned out on this.  So, I think I'm going to modify this pattern a bit and turn it into a dress for Sweet Pea.

And I've found plenty of new patterns to keep me busy hooking.  My sweet mother- in- love is even forwarding me patterns that would make good Christmas presents ;)

Oh, and I'm developing a yarn addiction...  

Another Flower

In my last post about flowers, I said I had been looking for patterns for those obnoxiously cute (ie big) bows for little girls.  After looking through several different patterns, I came up with this one.

Yes, I know she's adorably cute...

The head band is pretty simple.  Chain how every many you need to fit around the head, dc in third chain from hook and in each chain across.  Slip stitch the last stitch and weave the ends together to form a band.  I added the button where the band comes together.

The flower was made with this:

Ch 6, join to make ring with sl st.
Round 1: ch3 (count as dc), 15 dc in ring,sl st to third ch of beg.  (16 dc)
Round 2: ch3 (count as dc), dc in same space as joining, *2dc in next dc*. Repeat from * around, sl st to third ch of beg. ch3. (32 dc)
Round 3: *ch4, skip next 2 dc, sc in next dc*. Repeat from * around ending with sl st to previous joining st.
Round 4: *7 dc in next ch4 space, sc in next sc*. Repeat from * around, ending with sl st to previous joining st.

Because the flower had a hole in the center, I used that to attach it the button.  If I ever want to make other flowers in different colors, I can easily change them out and not have to make a new band every time =)

All this only took a couple hours to put together.  Probably would have been quicker if I hadn't had "help."

Flower Necklace

As if  I don't have enough projects to keep me busy =)

I was looking around for a crochet pattern for one of those obnoxiously big bow headbands for babies, when I stumbled across this pattern.  It looked easy enough, so I decided to try it out while Junior was working on some review work.

Sorry for the *off* color, but it's hard to take pictures of yourself.

I suppose I could have gotten Girly- girl to model it for me, but then she would have thought it was hers to keep =)

Something new to occupy my time...

Because I don't have enough things to keep me busy during the day... Or maybe because I needed something that was portable when I'm waiting at places. Whatever the reason, I am re- teaching myself how to crochet.

My first project was a hat for Girly- girl. Pretty simple pattern. I started with an adjustable ring with 12 dc. Then in the next 4 rounds I added 12dc. Then 5 rounds with 60dc and the final round had 180 dc to form the ruffle. At least that was the plan =) There may be more or less depending on how my counting went.

And for Virginia- I am still working on the knitting. It's too awkward yet for me to start projects =)

Something new to occupy my time...

Because I don't have enough things to keep me busy during the day... Or maybe because I needed something that was portable when I'm waiting at places. Whatever the reason, I am re- teaching myself how to crochet.

My first project was a hat for Girly- girl. Pretty simple pattern. I started with an adjustable ring with 12 dc. Then in the next 4 rounds I added 12dc. Then 5 rounds with 60dc and the final round had 180 dc to form the ruffle. At least that was the plan =) There may be more or less depending on how my counting went.

And for Virginia- I am still working on the knitting. It's too awkward yet for me to start projects =)