I am such a bad blogger!

Ok its been forever and a day since I last blogged.

If I had regular followers, I probably don't now! I'm sorry, please come back, please please!

Ok so I've got to catch you up on my boring life over the last two months!

Work is still as it was, I work 8.30-5ish every day for my money and they get their money's worth out of me! I've been regularly doing work of the grade above me, but not getting paid for it. Maybe I can get TDA'd up... hehehe!

I'm still crocheting away, nothing can squish that out of me! I've made a scarf out of Jet (shade 9, a reddypinkyorangey shade that I can't find any pictures of online!) that uses my grid pattern, which I'll get round to posting up, maybe when I get to the end of the post! Its really really easy, and can be shimmied about to change the size of hook or yarn type! I'll have a look for where I wrote it down and see if I can write it up today in case anyone wants to have a go!

My Miski scarf is on hold at the moment, as I need to order two more balls of wool to finish it! It feels wonderful and smooshy and cuddly! When I'm on the big PC I'll get some newer photos up, but alas, you'll have to look at my rav projects for now (click the link at Miski up there to go see).

My scallop stitch scarf is still in progress because it's become a behemoth and is trying to strangle me whenever I pick it up! Either way, you can check the monster scarf out by clicking its name!

My Spirit scarf is still being done too, I have so many WIPs on the go, its untrue!

I bought some lovely white wool for Kool Aid dying- alas, I has lost my Kool Aid! I'm going to order a couple of packets from Kool Aid World and then I can play at dying! Yay!

I had a birthday last week (Sept 7th) and got lots of lovely presents and wishes. Gina's present turned up yesterday and she'd knitted me an OCTYPUS! OMG! I loves teh octies! Thankyou Gina! THANKYOU! Ok, well I better get on I suppose, have to order some Kool Aid and orgasmic Miski yarn and then bake some cakes for mummy's birthday tomorrow. I wrapped her present this morning before she got out of bed, so its a big surprise! I'll show you what I've got her though! I got her this purse in brown/pink so it sort of matches the one she bought me for my graduation!

Thanks for tuning in again! Loves to you all!

essex snow: day 2

It hasn't gone, but not a lot more has fallen. Mark had to go to work today, the best we can hope for now is him getting to leave early in case the buses and trains stop running again. Everyone cross your fingers!

I'm having a good old woogle round the interwebs today, managing to find lots of lovely things!

The wool I was going on about a few days ago, turns out to be Wendy Happy, a blend of 75% bamboo and 25% nylon in a 4-ply weight. A 100g ball is about £5-something anywhere I look, so I will have to keep it in the back of my mind for now. I want someone to knit me some socks in the 'Scorpio' colourway. I think the 'Aries' is quite pretty too. I'm slightly miffed that there's no Virgo (me) or Cancer (Marko) though, how rude! So far, this link has the best pictures of colourways- there's only 8, but nowhere seems to stock them all! I want to see!

I found another nice pattern, but alas I cannot knit, so someone else will have to have them. Cabled wrist warmers anyone? People in cold climates, I'm looking at you!

I found a list of the gorgeous shades of Twilley's Spirit- YUM! It seems strange that a US site would have a full(ish) range of a UK brand. Weirdness...
The list of desired colours grows!
Essence, Bliss, Verve, Nature, Earth, Destiny... mmm! Already have things made of Air and Desire, and the only other colours I can get easily are Fire, Dignity and Promise which are a bit... well... dull in comparison lol!

The colours of fluff I bought for felting are limiting me to certain colour combinations... poo. I feel I need to buy a couple more colours, maybe ones I wouldn't necessarily get for myself like pinks or anything in the yellow family. At the moment my colourways seem to be 'fire' (orange, red, yellow), 'sea' (greens, blue, turquoise), 'land' (green, yellow, brown), 'sky' (blues, 'whites') or 'wine' (claret, purple, red) and I think I need to expand in order to make things that will actually sell. I know my misi site isn't actually functional yet due to in part my laziness and propensity for sitting on ravelry for hours, and in part because I'm scrutinising anything I've made so much.

I don't know what to get/make Mark for Valentine's. He always whinges that it's commercial and stuff, but I'd feel like a negligent girlfriend if I didn't get him a present. We're going on the London Eye before actual "V-Day" so there hopefully won't be as much of a queue. I'm terrified of heights over the 8 foot mark, so this will either cure or kill me. Joy.
I was thinking of making something for him. Not crochet because he's got hats and scarves etc aplenty and there's no time to make a jumper that he won't wear! Maybe something foodie instead, as I am (without being big headed) a good cook, and he's aspiring to be too.

• After translating from American 'cups', these nuts sounds just up his street. Might amend the mix a little and make it spicier, but who knows. I think I've got all the spices in the spice cupboard too, so all I need to buy is nuts and something to keep said nuts in. Maybe one of those jars with the metal lid release thingy? I know what I'm talking about... maybe Wilko has some.
• Then again, he likes toffee, and nuts, so maybe this would work, if I translate it?

So maybe I will be able to whip something up afterall? Phew.

Today I forsee wet felting in the bath, yippee!

yarn shopping

I'm going to buy another ball of that Twilley's Spirit. I can't decide if it should be reds or purples. Hmmn... We'll see.

Will get a pic of the wristers into ravelry when I can, but am a bit busy today!

I found a nice crochet pattern (well it was shown to me by One Pretty Thing) but alas it crashed firefox. Poo!

Will try again anyway when my list of open tabs has diminished!
(it's here if you wanna see)

hello hello hellooo

Hey y'all!

I.M.E groups for round 2 are up on ravelry! I'm in E (which will probably end up being called the eclectic elephants or something!) and some of the chicklets have made it into the same group, so YAY! I haven't been parted from my beloved frewen, FPK and DMXOX thank the gods! But there are also new peoples to meet, and I look forward to that too!

I hope you like the pics up there by the way. Aren't they groovy? They're of peoples' christmas lights (in the dark) taken with a slower shutter speed. I could offer them as weird futuristic prints to people! And I have more! Top one is a row of lights, middle is some blue net lights (think they were over a tree or soemthing maybe?) and bottom one is -believe it or not- a row of streetlamps! I was in a moving vehicle with a slow shutter, so there ya go!

I has a mole on my right shoulderblade and have all my life, and now it seems to want to annoy me. It feels different. It looks a bit different... I'm wondering if it's doctor trip time?

This is not crochet related. I am a bad Lini.
I'm wondering what to make for my Y RAK receive-ee Bianca... hmn, I have some nice yellow DK so I could make something cute and cool. I mean, you don't HAVE to make something, but I guess it'd be nice if I did. There's no way I'm gonna come close to Zoe's F RAK I got, but I can try!

So I was thinking of making something useful... maybe like a pouch or something? Lion Brand has some dinky bits, like a coin purse and an ipod sock (but does she have an ipod? And could it be used as something other than an ipod sock?)...

Ok so here's the links:
ipod sock
coin purse
(you may need to login/register)

Answers on a postcard PLIZ!

three days until xmas

Hello everyone out there in internet land.
I hope you're all having a very merry festive period, be it Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanzaa, or something else entirely.
I'm not. I'm still unemployed, had another rejection email, and my extended family are all morons. But on the plus side, I did get a big box in the post today, which appears to be my ravelry UKRAK secret santa. Oh yus.

The scarves we made for my cousins were well received on Sat, as was the beanie for the kid. Not going to say anymore as it will bring back the angries, and I've only just managed to make them go away... suffice to say, the day was crap and ended up with me losing my temper and having to go away to my room for half an hour and have a good rage until I felt better.

Anyway! This is not talking about crochet is it? NO!
I've found a really nice free pattern from Lion Brand (you may need to register to see) that I might look into making in the new year. I've never done a "big" project before. The dog coat I made was a medium project, but I'm more used to making one shot wonders like beanies, scarves, bonnets etc... so this'll be a challenge! I love the colour of it, but not too sure if it'll suit now I have dark hair again... I bet you're all waiting with baited breath, so here we are, without further ado, the Cowl Neck Sweater pattern! The only problem is, I don't know what weight Lion Brand Wool Ease is... I'm sure I can find out from somewhere. Maybe the website? We'll see...

Finally, I've made another beanie. It has ridges lol. Also, working on another one and finishing mum's xmas scarf (had to stop for a week cuz she was on holiday from work but now I'm running out of wool! NO!)

And in non crochet news, I hear my forum friend Leslie hasn't been very well of late, so GET WELL SOON! I hope you heard me in Colorado!

And before I forget, frewen, please make me some felted booties! ;)

tink's dog coat part 2!

Ok, here we are, as promised, a pic of Tink in her coat/jumper/thingy. She's not actually getting it until kringlemas, but she needed to try it on. And to avoid the inevitable questions about her breed, she's a four year old Jack Russell Terrier bitch. I think she's longhaired/wirehaired rather than short though, because she's got a mohican thing down her back lol!

So now crimble presents are all done. I've cooked a chocolate-mocha-custard tart for my lovely manchild to have tomorrow as a bribe for coming over when my awful family decends upon us, and there are small chocolate star biscuits to be had (and some weird meringue spongy offcuts), so fully bribed he be.

So now I guess I'll have to start a new project. I don't know what to do! Ideas?

Sorry for the short update AGAIN but I'm not really hooking much (plus have been baking for 3 hours!) so not a lot to say!

not feeling christmassy yet...

So christmas is advancing. Pah. So what. I'm not feeling particularly festive this year, even SO has picked up on it (even if he did say me putting a downer on everything was grating), and that's probably to do with the fact that I'm still unemployed. And I've run out of money. And overdraft. So I guess I'll be going to see the Jobcentre next week, much to my chagrin. Great.

So I've been looking at hooks again. My godmum asked what I wanted for christmas, so me being me, said I wanted a 20mm hook. Realising that she doesn't do much in the way of finding random hooks, I found a website that has some lovely ones. You'll have to excuse me if I've mentioned it before, but I can't remember. I have a brain like a sieve. Anyway, angelyarns has some lovely weird and wonderful hooks in plastic, bamboo, birch etc as well as the old standard Pony and Prym.

Also, just a random thought, I'm sure my jewellery making skills could make better stitch markers than these... and cheaper... *ahem* so if anyone wants some, I'll probably have had a little play by the next update, and may have got some for sale (they'll be quite cheap, I'm not a mercenary- between £2.50-£5.00, or about $4-$7 for my American friends, not including P&P, which will probably be about £1 for UK peeps and about $2-ish maybe for the US)

Really though, I want some lovely big addi hooks. I want a 12mm, 15mm and a 20mm. I also really want to branch out into other materials- I mean, I've got aluminium Pony, Palette and Prym (what is it with the Ps?) and some plastic Palettes (Ps again!) but I'd really like some wooden ones... bamboo (and if anyone's feeling philantrhopic, I'd love the $49.99 Takumi roll set!) and birch and palm and everything! I also really want a Jimbo hook, but at the moment, funds prohibit me. I also found metal ones! I mean, nice silver and gold ones- Leslie might like them I thought to myself...

I'm seriously thinking of getting the sandpaper out and making my own hooks. God only knows what kind of sizes they'd eventually emerge as, but whatever. It'll be fun. It'll stop me killing people from unemployment-induced boredom. Which is a possibility at the mo...

Ok, so in my garden we have a lot of fruit trees- the place was an orchard before they built houses on it, and most of the street has some pear trees going down in a line across the gardens. I think that's sweet personally... but I also LOATHE pears. YUCK! And if you like them, when you've accidentally trodden in a mould blackened fly-blown one on a hot summer's day, you won't anymore. Not mentioning the wasps. Blugh.

Back on to topic! Honestly, I ramble more than someone with stout boots and a love of the countryside! OK!

In my garden we have:

• 3 pear trees
• 1 peach tree
• 1 cooking apple tree
• about 5 damson/greengage thing trees (I dunno what they are, they start out green and then go all purple. They look a bit like plums... small plums. PLOOMS! *ahem* sorry)

not to mention the branches that fall off my neighbours' trees, and the honeysuckle thing tree (small tree, about 8' high, has yellow teardrop-ish flowers with a white centre with stamens protruding) and the small fir/pine/christmas tree ting.

So I'm wondering if I could actually make some apple/pear/etc-wood hooks. And if anyone would want to buy them from me too. I used to do a lot of carving/sanding/shaping the branches when I was younger, so I'm sure it wouldn't take too long for the knowledge to come back. I think though, because of the spate of wet weather recently, it might take some time to dry the pre-hooks out over the heater.

This post really got away from me... sorry.
If you managed to read to the end without scroll-skipping, well done, have a pat on the back.

spice weasel!

Ok, I promised something crochet related so here it is.
Combining my love of crochet AND my love of Futurama, here's Geek Central Station's Spice Weasel Lip Balm Cover.

EPIC WIN!

Also, the lipbalm inside the featured SW is my lipbalm of choice- Burt's Bees FTW.

I'm gonna make one of these after Christmas, I wonder if it'll work as a finger puppet for my other half...?

christmas crochet update 2

Ok, as promised I'm updating my to-do list, as if anyone cares.
It's getting done, but I forgot some people, so it's also growing a bit. Oops. Oh well...

As of today it looks like this:
DONE:
My mum-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My sis-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My best friend's (Rasta bag hat, modified version of an internet pattern that I'm still looking for again!)
My other best friend's (scarf, "Dave 2.0 Scarf" pattern from crochetme.com)
My other best friend's (wristlets, "Openwork Wrist Warmers" I think from crochetme.com)
My grandparents-in-law (shell pattern tea cosy, from an old book)
My godmum (Froth n Frills Scarf from 'Fun & Funky Crochet')
My best friend's dog (Scare Bear Costume from Crochet Kitten)
My friend's baby (Seija Set hat from 'Happy Hooker')
Cousin 2's toddler (my hat pattern in mini form with a scalloped edge)

DOING:
Finishing the dog coat.
Finishing my friend's hat matching pouch.

ON THE LIST:
My other half (WHAT THOUGH? And he's still getting Iron Man on DVD)
My dad-n-law (I'm thinking a beanie?)
Cousin 1
Cousin 2
Cousin 2's hubby
Another friend
Another friend
My friend (now penfriend) in the USA
Boyfriend's uncle

ARGH! It's only a month until Christmas!

hooks and hooking

Yay, I made it back here after a weekend hiatus. I actually had a social life for at least part of last week, so hopefully it'll continue!

The picture to the right there is a selection of my hooks: top is a plastic Palette, middle a metal Palette and bottom is a dinky metal Pony. This is useful if you're going to read on... *hint*

At the moment I'm working on another hat <3 and my friend's dog coat. I'll have to get round to uploading some pics as I go.

I'd love to get all the hats I made from my free pattern (see my patterns segment if you'd like to take a looksy) and line them up for some photos. How twee! I still have some of them (my own one, the xmas hats) but one has already gone to it's new home (and she STILL hasn't paid me for it >:|) so I guess it'll have to be a pic without the fluffy white sister hat. Oh well, every family reunion has someone missing!

So on to the topic of conversation today- hooks! Ah, hooks, such a joy to behold and to hold! :D
The reason I'm blogging about hooks is that I lost my 6mm and 3.5mm on Saturday (I later found them but that's not the point) and had to go buy replacements as these are two of the four sizes I use most often (the other two being 4mm and 5mm if you're interested).

This got me to considering my own hooks. I have a 3mm and a 3.5mm that my mum gave me (generic Pony hooks, good enough for me!) but the rest are ones I've bought. I have a Tunisian hook (3.5mm as if you care!) that I bought with the intention of learning to TC so I could make a big old Afghan. It still ain't happened. I keep ending up with a shrivelled thing that looks like a mad scientist's attempt to create a robo-raisin gone horribly awry! So yes, still no TC in the essex hooker camp.

The hooks I bought were all purchased in Hobbycraft, which is a big UK craft store. There's not much space devoted to yarn arts (by that of course I mean crochet... and knitting *whinge*) but they do have some nice wool. The range of hooks they carry is just Pony and Palette (the people who make Palette yarn) so it's kind of limiting to only have those kinds of hooks easily available.

Finally, I'm getting to my point ("at last", I can hear you shouting from here!). I don't mind crocheting with Pony's plastic hooks (although I actually prefer to use alu/s.steel when I can) but I hate the Palette ones with a rabid passion. The Palette alu hooks are fine (and green, my favourite colour, woo!). They're nice to work with, I admit, but the plastic ones (which are a "lovely" garish orangeypink- ugh!) drive me mad. I just can't use them. I just don't enjoy the feel of them in my hand, and I especially don't like the way the yarn makes that "skreeeeek" noise as you pull it through with the things. None of my other hooks make the yarn squeal- why should the plastic Palettes?

So the crux, or nub of the post if you will, is this: urgh plastic Palette hooks, yay metal.
I've put some big Addi hooks (12mm, 15mm, 20mm) on my Christmas list, as well as some bamboo or wooden ones in my preferred sizes to see how I fare with them. From what I've heard, wooden hooks just improve with age, and I intend on being a crochetier for a long time to come- I wonder what'll snap first, my hooks or my wristbones?

Ok, I guess that's it for today. Something tells me I should make a poll and ask my visitors what kind of hooks THEY like, rather than ranting about what I don't... I'll do it in a bit.

Oh yes, and the xmas stuff is STILL in production!

recycling

I like to recycle. I like to compost. It makes me feel good, like I'm actually doing something that means something.

I found a nice tutorial here that teaches you how to use your shopping bags as yarn. That is awesome. They also give a nice link to a basket pattern that you can use your bag-yarn to make. How informative! Kudos to you!

Also, I've found a really nice scarf pattern which is going to be my next personal project as soon as I've got the Christmas presents out of the way. N.B you may need to login/register to see the pattern.

According to my mum, I've got to crochet her workmate a beret. Hoo boy. Joy. But said workmate is providing wool, so that's ok. I've got to go collect it soon, as well as getting my glasses sorted out and some other errands before I go measure my friend's Jack Russell for a dog coat. YAY!

christmas crochet update and felting

Ok, so now the list is getting shorter, woo! I'll add it on the end of this post if anyone actually cares...

As the owner of a lovely felt beret (from Accessorise, far too expensive) that I never wear in case I lose it/ dirty it/ a magpie steals it etc, and simultaneously as a crochetier, I've been looking for felting tutorials so I can make my own felt hats! God I love hats.
So, I found a simple tutorial combined with a pattern at michaels.com (here) and when I get some 100% wool wool, I'm gonna try it out!

I promised my lovely friend I'd make her a wristycuff out of my scraps, so I'm going to go and do that. Also, I've just had an "OHSHIT" moment, as she will have read this blog and will now know what she's getting for Christmas. Oh dear. Well, hopefully she'll forget before then. Amy, stop wondering which present is yours. You've worked it out. Now forget!

So far, we've finished:
My mum-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My sis-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My best friend's (Rasta bag hat, modified version of an internet pattern that I'm still looking for again!)
My other best friend's (scarf)
My other best friend's (wristlets)
My grandparents-in-law (shell pattern tea cosy, from an old book)

In the process of finishing:
My dad-n-law (claret & blue beanie- WHUFC FTW!)

Still to do:
My other half (WHAT THOUGH? And he's still getting Iron Man on DVD)
Cousin 1
Cousin 2
Cousin 2's toddler
Cousin 2's hubby
Another friend
Another friend
My friend (now penfriend) in the USA
My godmum

christmas crochet

Ok, this Christmas I'm poor. Poorer than when I was a poor student. Now I'm a poor unemployed graduate. What does this have to do with crochet you ask? AHA! I have lots of wool. And I mean lots- my mother and I (both hookers :D) buy yarn like it's gonna fall off the face of the earth- we have a double wardrobe at home, and the bottom is full of bags of wool. Acrylic wool, mohair, angora, alpaca etc etc... so, this year I've set myself a challenge. With my mother's help, everyone is getting a crocheted Christmas present. She's really quick at working up crochet, so she's helping me.

So far, we've finished:
My mum-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My sis-in-law's (hat, my own pattern)
My best friend's (Rasta bag hat, modified version of an internet pattern that I'm still looking for again!)
My other best friend's (scarf, "Dave 2.0 Scarf" pattern from crochetme.com)
My other best friend's (wristlets, "Openwork Wrist Warmers" I think from crochetme.com)

In the process of finishing:
My grandparents-in-law (shell pattern tea cosy, from an old book)

Still to do:
My other half (WHAT THOUGH? And he's still getting Iron Man on DVD)
My dad-n-law (I'm thinking a beanie?)
Cousin 1
Cousin 2
Cousin 2's toddler
Cousin 2's hubby
Another friend
Another friend
My friend (now penfriend) in the USA
My godmum

I will update the list, and I will make an effort to get pictures and links for the patterns soon!