Book Giveaway

I had fully planned to have done the drawing for the first of the book giveaways by now. But I had originally said that the Deadline is June 29th or when we reach 25 commenters, whichever is later.. we still haven't reached that.


I'm going to stick by that.


Sooo... if you have visited but not followed and you want a chance to win one of these books (and I have actually added two more nice ones to the stack because I wasn't thinking) check the link here for How to follow.


Plus, tell your crocheting friends about the books and invite them to follow as well. And be sure to leave a comment on THIS post including your email. If your name is picked I will email you for mailing info.

Another project...FINISHED!!

I ran across a knitting pattern that was for a child's sweater made with just two identical hexagons. I found a crocheted adaptation but I just went ahead and made hexagons and this is what I came up with. You can see the buttonholes but I haven't gotten buttons for it yet. That can be a project in itself.

So...  and comments? Good or bad, either way. I'm hoping that it will fit the Princess! I put the buttonholes down a bit to help with the trach.

The only word associated with kidney should be beans. NOT stones!

I really, really meant to have this posted sooner. I hadn't counted on issues like nurses getting sick and an attack of kidney stones.

Yeah... Kidney stones! I got 'em. If it was something I could have crocheted away they would have been long gone. Unfortunately yarn isn't a wonder drug so the pain doesn't go away with each stitch. (Although it does sort of dull it!)

We had an interesting weekend with a night nurse having to leave town on a family emergency, a new nurse stepping in and getting sick at 3:30 - 4 am, the princess's van not starting after a doctor's appointment (when we had to be somewhere else in 20-30 minutes!) a day nurse getting sick because of the heat and sending her home a bit early, my trip to the emergency clinic, no day nurse the next day, and a C-T scan. We thought we were going to be without a day nurse today as well but one of our regular subs was available so that shortage was avoided. YEA!

So, the blanket is finished. It reminds me of a Babette. I've named it Sawtooth Babette because of the edging. 

Here it is!

And this is the edging.

I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Remember... if you want to be in the drawing for the chance to give the first of my duplicate books a new home go to THIS POST and comment, telling me what your favorite thing to crochet is and why. Deadline is June 29th or when we get at least 25 qualifying comments, whichever is later. Tell your friends.

Life gets in the way...

I wanted to be posting the finished product now but that wasn't to be. I am instead posting an "in progress" shot and, hopefully will be posting the finished product tomorrow. I wasn't happy with the border so am re-doing it.

It started off to be a jacket but I didn't think it was going to work out that way so I changed direction and I like it much better now!

Easy ways to follow the Yarn Princess

After several people asked me how to "follow" the blog I asked Dak to tell you all how...


The Yarn Princess asked me to put up some information about easy ways to follow this blog. News readers are some of the easiest modern Web technologies available, but they're really under utilized.


What's a news reader? Basically, it's software that checks Web sites for you and shows you the updates. If you have more than a half dozen blogs that you like to check, a news reader will greatly simplify the process.


There are dozens of news readers available, many (or maybe most) of them free. I use a Macintosh computer, and NetNewsWire is a free (as in ad-supported) reader that does the job. (There is a paid version that eliminates the ads.) You can subscribe to feeds via Outlook, although I don't find that as convenient (Microsoft has a "how to" for this).


If you don't already have a news reader, several are available as Web services, four of which are linked from any blog hosted on Blogger, which hosts the Yarn Princess. Look for the "Join the Realm" link in the right-hand navigation column. Google Reader (at the top of the list) is probably the easiest--if you already have a Google account, you already have a Google Reader account.

If you prefer to keep track of your blogs via a program on your own computer (my personal preference--as I said, I use NetNewsWire), then you can choose the fifth option on the drop down list ("Atom") to get the feed address, and then give that address to your reader software. Or you can just click the "RSS feed" button at the top of the blog.


Back to the Yarn Princess...  Remember to go to this post if you want to enter first of many book giveaways. Follow and leave a comment. Remember, I need to be able to reach you if you win so include your e-mail address!

Any photography buffs???

Kaelahbee, a Nashville area blogger that I read, is giving away an Instax 210 Wide camera this month! Cool... a wider format INSTANT camera!!!  Yea!!!


I love reading her posts and I love, love, LOVE the pink hair!!! It is definitely her and she rocks it. Wish I could do that.
Check out her blog by clicking here.

Oops... Missed a project...

I know that a couple posts ago I mentioned a project I was completing. Then I finished it and forgot to post the pictures.


This is what it looked like as a WIP.

This is what it looked like with the ruffled border.    

I wasn't sure I would like it but I do! :)  Hubbs is going to take a bigger picture for me in a bit.

Latest WIP finished!

Here it is...

Here is the detail of the stripes...

I edged it with one row of sc and one of hdc. I almost feel like I need to do another solid afghan with buttons to go through the holes! :) It's an adaptation of an afghan I found in an old book. 

Speaking of books. Dak helped me enter in quite a few crochet books into a really cool database we have. It's called Collectorz Books. (We also have Collectorz Movies for our DVD/Video collection.) They even use barcode readers to enter the information. Check them out here  Collectorz if you want to keep track of your movies, books, music, comics, or games! They even have mobile apps that work in conjunction with the main programs. I now have all my movies and books on my android phone so won't have to guess if I have something or not. 

While dealing with the books, leaflets and magazines, I found, not surprisingly, that I had some duplicates. 20+ duplicates!!!  Books like Visual Quick Tips Crochet by Cecily Keim and Kim Werker, Stitch Collection Textured Crochet by Helen Jordan, Super Finishing Techniques for Crocheters by Betty Barnden, The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet  by Margaret Hubert, and Lily Chin's Mosaic Magic by, who else, Lily Chin! I even have a duplicate of Kim Werker's Crocheted Gifts. 

So... what to do with the extras. After some thinking I have come up with a plan. And I need some help with it.

 I am going to give them away! 

Not all at once, one at a time. :)  So tell your crocheting friends to follow this blog. To be eligible you need to be a follower and need to post a comment to this post. To offer a new home to the first book - tell me what your favorite thing to crochet is and why.

I'd like a minimum of 25 commenters for each book drawing. I will put all names in a hat and all book titles in another hat and draw both together to see what book is going to what new home. Deadline is June 29th or when we reach 25 commenters, whichever is later..

I'm still here!

May 21st came and went. As far as I know everyone I know and love is still here on earth. I'm not making fun of anyone who was anticipating a trip home yesterday. 


I just believe that none of us knows when we will be leaving this party. NONE of us. People have tried predicting it but no one has managed to nail it yet.


So what was I doing while this was un-unfolding? I was crocheting! This is what I started on the 20th and finished on the 21st.

I also finished one of the blankets I have been working on... Yes, this is just a corner. Go to the previous post to see the body of the blanket. This finished it up.

One last project. I finished a shawl I recently started.

Now I'm finishing a pink gingham design, working on the ruffly border. Pictures of that soon!

Popping in to say hi...

I know it's been a while. There just aren't enough hours in a day. Maybe I need to make a schedule for my day like I have for the Princess.


Anyway - I have finished a few projects... Some were just for me, some were pattern testing for a designer.

This was a SmoothFox test pattern. You can get the pattern here. Check out her other patterns as well!


Then there was this...

This was another SmoothFox pattern but not done as a test pattern. (I did that a while ago.) For this I just used two 200g balls of very soft variegated English yarn I bought at a yarn store on a road trip. I think I got within a couple rows of actually making it as big as it was designed. Pattern available here.

I really liked the way this one worked up so square and true. Again, another SmoothFox test pattern.

You will be able to get the pattern on SmoothFox's Ravelry site soon, I believe.

This was something I had started a while back.

I had already done the circles so all I had to do now was connect them all and put a simple border around it. Can you figure out the patterns in the circles???

And another one I just made up...

I connected the squares as I crocheted them so had a chart of where I wanted what color. Simple HDC border.

I can't remember if I posted this one or not. I did the basic blanket (HDCs I think) and then make some star appliqués out of Bernats fun glow-in-the-dark yarn. You can see what the difference is in the insets.

And this one technically is still a WIP. Over the last couple nights I have woven in all the loose ends (a job I H ATE!) and then connected all the squares. I want to put a ruffle border around it but I can't find the border books I have and haven't been able to find a ruffle pattern online that really grabs me yet.

What is funny about this one is that I was trying for just a random placement but after it was all done I saw that it wasn't so random. I have no idea how that happened!

I will try to post projects here as well as on my Ravelry account. Look me up there...  I'm Mamagotyarn. If you go there you can see some other things that I have done (that may or may not have been posted here.) 

What to say, what to say...

As often is the case I thought of lots to share when I wasn't sitting here, my gaze darting back and forth between  at the keys and the screen. Of course noting happens until I press said keys. And in order for that to happen my brain needs to be engaged as well.

My brain has been engaged, it's just that it has been fragmented in so many directions that things don't always get the attention they deserve. I hate that. 

The changes I wrote about last have come and gone. First-born and her hubbs are now in the Seattle area. Both have jobs and are enjoying it up there. Chatty has moved out and on. Hopefully she is doing well and her plans are working out successfully.  Skellyson and Gamer Boy both continue in school. And the Princess continues her royal reign in the house.


I have been trying to use up yarn odds and ends and have been working on what could be a rather large project. Granted it isn't only odds and ends. I actually had to buy yarn to supplement the colors I already had. Somehow that seems wrong. But that's what happens.


This is what it looks like so far...

It's about 4 feet long on the shortest sides. Of course since it's rectangular it is longer on the other sides. I'm still debating on how big to make it. We'll see how it ends up. For now I'm just adding to it... one row black, a row of solid, a row of variegated, another row of solid. Repeat. Maybe I'll keep working on it forever so I never have to weave in the ends. :)

I'm still here...

Wow... has it really been that long since I wrote last? I am both amazed and embarrassed. I will try and do better from now on. 

Honestly, there has been plenty to write about. The problem wasn't that, there have been plenty of things that happened that I could have written about. It was more thinking about doing it at the wrong time. When the computer was shutting down, when I wasn't home, middle of the night. That sort of thing. 

Some happenings in the family have been that several kidlets are hitting the road and moving. First-born and her hubbs are moving to the Pacific Northwest. She has a job lined up that starts later next month and he is up there looking now. They will officially be moving in a couple weeks. Because of their move Skellyson has to move as well because he was staying with them and they aren't going to take him with them. From what he tells us, he will be moving in with a friend. Then Chatty is planning a move next week, just a few hours away but in a different state. This will be a permanent move for her so we hope her wings are dry enough and she is able to fly on her own. 


That means we are (or soon will be) left with Gamer Boy and Princess Junior at home. There have been a few big happenings with them as well.


Gamer Boy started college in August! He is still a little undecided on a major but is now in his second semester and doing well. He surprised himself and managed a B average in his first semester! He also bought himself a car. Well, actually this is his second car. He bought a Subaru Outback (used) and even though it checked out with two separate mechanics (one at the car lot, the other the one we take all our cars to) who both came back with the same report, it died about 3-4 weeks after he bought it. Put it this way... There was a MAJOR problem that it looks like the previous owner tried to cover up with a temporary fix. And that fix blew on Gamer Boy. Right before Christmas we did a bit of car shopping and he found a 2009 Hyundai Sonata at a dealership and it still had a good bit of the factory warranty left on it. I think he did well.

I've been doing a lot of crocheting. I've dome some pattern testings of squares, scarves, blankets. And I've made a couple pairs of fingerless gloves for Gamer Boy and one for Dak. Actually they aren't fingerless - they are more like half-finger gloves.

And I have made hats. LOTS of hats... I don't know why except that they are small and can be take-along projects. I don't go anywhere without my yarn! (And if I do I am VERY uncomfortable.) Here are some pictures but I can't put them in chronological order correctly so I won't even try.

There was this...

It's sort of a banded/brimmed beret style. 

Then this... Aviator style with earflaps. I can't remember exactly what the yarn was but it's very soft.

And this one has an open top so that you can wear your hair in a pony tail and it hangs out the back!

I may have posted this one previously... It's a cupcake!

Another ear flap style but with a really long top that was knotted and braided ties from the ear flaps.

This one was fun. A spiral.

A simple rounded top bucket hat with a scalloped edge.

I think I may have posted this one before.

This one combines floppy, swirl and a ruffly edge. It turned out a bit larger than expected.

Flat hat with tassles on the corners.

                  

I love this one! It's a spiral then I highlighted the spiral!

And we have had SNOW! I would be more than happy to have more but I'm grateful for what we got. This was our street.

So... I will try and do better. I have some more pictures of some other projects I've worked on and some WIPS.