Tuesday, January 30, 2007

not much new...

sunday i crocheted a cute bag, using diagonal crochet. I based the pattern on the Brown Sugar Bag on crochetme. it turned out pretty cute, although I had to alter the pattern to get the color pattern the way i wanted it. instead of crocheting the back and the front flap in one piece, i did two seperate pieces, and joined them together, because i used a diagonal pattern for the whole bag. if i had done it all in one piece, the pattern on the front flap would have gone the opposite direction, and it would have looked weird. then instead of making the strap, and joining all the pieces together, i crocheted the strap around on the bag, starting at the middle of the bottom of the back piece, until i reached the ppoint where I joined the front flap, then I chained until the strap was as long as i wanted it, then picked back up on the other side of the join, working in the round until it was the right thickness. then i turned the bag inside out, and crocheted the front piece on. I'm giving it to a friend for her birthday, hopefully she will like it. it is unlined, so not suitable for small things like pens, but its bigger than i had expected, anyways, so its more like a small bookbag, which is great because she loves to read! I need to take pictures of it before i give it away. my mom really liked how it turned out, i don't know if i'll be making anymore, though. diagonal crochet is fun, but it gets tedious, as each row is bigger than the last one, at least, until you get to the middle. then things get easier, lol. i love the texture it creates, though. i want to do an afghan. i think i'll start with a baby blanket, i have plenty of baby yarn floating around. i wonder how a verigated would look... hmm...
i'm not sure if i posted this here yet, but the cardigan i was making is not getting finished. it doesn't fit in the front, i guess my gauge was off, although it fits across my back just fine. so now i'm debating whether i should rip it out and start over again, or what. it didn't take me too long to make, but i don't know if i want to go through the trouble. i will eventually, because i paid good money for that yarn, but right now its too depressing. for now, i'm just sticking to basic things, using my knifty knitters, and some simple crochet projects. i'm also going to try to learn counted cross stitch. one of my co-workers does it, and it looks so cool. i could never get the hang of it as a kid, but now my mind is more oriented towards counting stitches and using charts, so it could work. i'm going to go to michaels and look for a kit after work. I really want to buy my own spinning wheel. I want an upright wheel, where everything is stacked, i think it would be easier to use and control. my mom's ashford traditional is just too bulky and clumsy for me. i need to finish the ingeo that's on the wheel, so i can ply it, and then i'd like to try and dye it, if i can find a good synthetic dye. that should be absolutely yummy, i love ingeo, i would only spin that if i had the choice, although natural fibers are fun, too. but the ingeo is so incredibly soft and satiny.
in other news, i will be breeding my rabbits. I had originally thought it better not to, but after research, i've decided its better for Barbie's health if i breed her. my mom won't let me get her spayed to prevent uterine cancer, and if she's bred, the chances of her getting that will be reduced, because the reason why rabbits get cancer is because those organs don't get used. Rabbits were designed to be bred. to not breed them, and to leave them intact, is just cruel. maybe not so much with males, but with females, it is. I am a strong advocate of spaying and neutering pets, but i see no problem in breeding for specific purposes. my purpose is for fiber. i wouldn't breed non-wooly rabbits, unless i planned on using them for meat or something, because there are enough homeless buns out there. its the same with other critters. Blair is breeding mice now. sort of. Trevor bought two male mice as feeders, but his snakes wouldn't eat. I named them, and played with them. After a few days, i noticed that Maximus was getting smaller, and sickly looking. after observing the two interact, i realized that Maxi wasn't sick at all, but Sparticus would not let him eat, he would snatch food away from him. Maxi still wanted to snuggle with him, though, he wanted the company. so after i spent a few hours playing with Maxi, encouraging him to eat, (and dying him pink, which is another story), he was really tame. Both mice were still intended to be food at this point, but i didn't care, i wanted him to be healthy and happy until that point. I guess blair and trevor decided to handle him, and realized just how social and friendly he was, and felt sorry for him, so they went out and bought him a new cage, as well as a girlfriend. they decided they could breed the mice and raise the babies for snake food, which i totally support. at least it ensures that the mice will be happy and healthy until they become food, as opposed to living in crowded tanks, with no human interaction, until they get purchased as food. I wish my sister had done some research before making that decision, but i guess they assumed i knew everything about breeding mice, which i don't, but i know enough, so its okay. in about 3 weeks, we should have newborn mice. i'm waiting a few weeks before breeding the rabbits, because i don't want her kindling date to interfere with our planned arizona trip, which i don't even want to go on.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

i'm knitting a sweater!

earlier today i tried to post a pretty long entry, but it didn't go through. anyways, here it is in short. I'm knitting a sweater. its been something i've been meaning to do for awhile, but i still consider myself a total beginner, considering i have never even made a simple scarf, and of course, its a requirement for a new knitter to knit 8 million scarves before they move onto something more complicated. lol. my office has been freezing lately, the AC is running, and we can't turn it off! so i wanted to use my few knitting skills and make a simple raglan cardigan. no sewing required! unless you count sewing on buttons, i guess. the pattern i found (i'm at work and don't have the link) was written with buttonholes optional, which i didn't realize. i was halfway through the row that was supposed to have the first buttonhole, and noticed at the bottom of the instructions for that row was the alternative instructions for the buttonhole row. not wanting to frog out that row (i really should have, thinking back), i decided to forget the buttonholes. so when i'm done, i'm going to crochet a border around the front, making loops in the buttonhole side so i have a way to button it. anyways, i've got over a foot of it knit, go me! its working up pretty fast, and its turning out pretty cute. my mom keeps saying its not going to fit me, because she sees it all scrunched up on circulars, and she secretly wants it for herself. i sort of tried it on today (as much as i could without transfering the stitches to scrap yarn), and it seems like it will fit, which is awesome! i'm so proud of me, i'll be even prouder when i'll be able to actually wear it! hopefully sometime next week, if i work hard this weekend, and try to get at least 2 inches per day during the week... i have no idea how long the sleeves are going to take, though...

Thursday, January 11, 2007

New bunny!

Today I got a french angora rabbit! He's a real cutie. He's a bit matted, so tonight he's getting a haircut. once we get him all tangle-free, he'll be ready to grow beautiful angora hair! he's a retired show bunny, and has transferred hands a few times since. he shouldn't be too bad with grooming, though, having been shown, he must have dealt with that all the time! he's got a great coat, not very many guard hairs, which is unusual for french angoras, but a great thing for spinning, because the undercoat is so soft! he's light grey (maybe lilac? i'm still trying to figure it out). His fur will blend nicely with Barbie's, and because he's 2-3 times her size, thats so much more fiber he will produce!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

i'm so bummed...

I'm at work right now, so I can't post pictures or anything.. recently I finished a crocheted Tigger doll, he's pretty big... I'm working on Pooh atm, so far i've got his snout, and one foot which needs to be frogged. the patterns are from a leisure arts book, but they just don't seem to work well for me. i use stitch markers, and i'm counting my stitches (two things i normally don't do), and i'm still ending up with uneven rounds...
One of the Joanns over here is closing, which means everything is on sale! I'm excited about it, and i'm dying to go shopping, especially now that i have a little bit of money in the bank. But i'm bummed because they aren't accepting checks, only credit cards and cash. big problem... there were some fraudulent charges on my debit card, so i reported it and requested a new card. well, they deactivated my current card, and have yet to mail me my new one. I avoid using my credit card, because i don't want to be irresponsible with it. Without my debit card, i can't get cash! its horrible. all of my money is sitting in the bank, waiting to be spent, and unfortunately, i am forced to neglect it... my fingers are itching to craft, i have some patterns for some really cute things i want to make, i'm just waiting for the right yarn, and with everything on sale, i could really use that...
in other news, walmart is closing their fabric department, it will only be available in the superstores. my mom is bummed about that, but she's waiting for everything to go on clearance at the regular stores... i wonder what they are going to do with the extra space... maybe they'll expand the yarn aisles... a girl can dream..