Insta-Tues

I'm back with more Instagram pictures. Sadly, I cannot share many of the crochet ones, because they are all gifts! Oh well.  Here is what else is going on in my life...

A fun twisty hairdo. Thanks, Pinterest.

Napping kitty and Christmas decor (and La Push blanket)!

The other napping kitten with our Christmas village in the back

Coffee & Tea from our date to the Apple Farm

We're training for a 5k. It has actually been fun (also, cold)!

I made myself some business cards the other day!

Friday baking -- Brown Sugar Springerle with cookie stamps

Saturday Baking - Baklava Tassies, Spritz  Trees & Wreaths, Mint Meringues, & Andes Mint Cookies. Wow.

What's new with you? Doing any baking in addition to crafting? Also, I know that many of you follow my other blog, Newly Wife, so I try not to post things here that will show up there (but you can learn how to make the meringues over there today)! I cannot wait to show you all more crocheted items after the 25th!

Christmas-time is here!

Okay. I love Christmas. But you already knew that, right? Well, I finished my next Christmas toy. This holiday penguin was shipped out to a friend who we called penguin, back in college. I had to wait to post this until she received it! :) What do you think of this little guy?

I think he is just adorable -- plus he likes to hang out with our friend Rudy. :)

As per usual, check out the original post for my recap, more pictures, and a link to the pattern!

Wedding!

Matt and I were recently in a friend's wedding. I stole a few pictures from the photog (hi, Laur) to show you all. They are crummy because I used the screen shot + crop option for saving. :) Good thing I'm tight with the photographer. Sad thing I don't have larger size images (for me) because she is so so busy with weddings (good for her)! Anywho, here they are:

And no. I am not pregnant. Although it may look like it.

See what I mean? But it's okay. I can dance with the best of them. No matter how prego a dress makes me look!

Let's end with one final picture... one that Lauriana (the photog) sent me. How cute are we? :)

Hope you all are doing well on this Monday. And. Seriously. Let's not let this post finish without pointing out how gorgeous the bride is and the lovely combo of teal and orange that she chose. Thanks for including me in your special day, Jen!

Purple People Eater

Okay so these are wrist warmers, but I typed purple and the rest just came out. So last January my cute little cousins asked me for a few crocheted items. They will be getting them for Christmas this year! haha So. Start with a little of this action...

And you end up with these beauties (and yes it is imperative that your nail polish matches your current project)...

So cute! I love the pattern. They are reversible. Love them. Oh yeah, they were my challenge pattern from January 24 last year. Oh man. In a few short weeks it will have been two years since I started this craziness. Wow.

Instagram Thursday

I have some pictures of a finished project that I REALLY want to share with you, but I think my friend / the recipient reads the blog. So... we must wait a few more days until her package make it to her! Here are a few snippets from the last week or so.

Our tree is up and it feels like Christmas!

We painted Christmas gifts... Matt is definitely the artist of the family!

After painting ceramics, we had a little sushi date. This was delish!

The ladies on my dad's side of the family... and what happens when an iPhone catches part of a camera's flash! This pictures cracks me up!

Matt took an evening nap with Skweaks lounging on his lap

Apparently we make great beds! haha And my pants are not that short, they are apparently just pulled up weird. Weird.

Hope you enjoyed these photos. I was going to post one of a work in progress, but I just finished, so I will try to post all of the pictures tomorrow!

Finished Baby Blanket & a Visitor

I started this baby blanket last year. It kept getting thrown into the back of my crochet basket, because it did not have a recipient. A few months ago, I decided that I need to just woman up and finish it. Someone will have a baby that I can give it to. Or I can donate it (duh!). So I got out my hook, bought a second thing of yarn (because I ran out) and finished this project. Now, if only I hadn't started three more projects..

That leaves my current works in progress at six. Oy vey! Oh well, I'm going to be thankful that I finished this (because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, after all) and move on. Oh yeah, and update the project page for this sweet little blanket! Wanna know who else wanted to get in on this photo shoot...

Kitten! haha She just walked right on through my photoshoot. She really just wanted to get to the rock so she could scratch her back.

Hubs is looking at her thinking "what a weirdo," meanwhile, she must have spotted something in the distance.

Oh how pets can give us so much joy. These kittens are super quirky, but I LOVE them! :) Oh yeah, and they are over two years old, so they are definitely not kittens anymore. But they are still cute and cuddly!

Rudy the Reindeer

Christmas is coming. It is a little over a month away. Crazy. I, for one, am super excited. One reason -- this cute little reindeer. I have been wanting to make this guy for the past three years or so (ever since I saw the one that my friend made), but just never had the time today. Well, folks, I did it. And in one weekend, mind you! These little guys don't actually take that much time, you just have to dive in and get going!

So I would like to introduce you to Rudy.

Why Rudy, you ask? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe because it is like a form of Rudolph? I do not know. It just popped into my head when I was downloading the pictures. As always, check out the original project page for more info!

Insta-addiction

So I have a new addiction. It is Instagram. If you do not know what it is, you are surely missing out! It is a photo sharing app for the iPhone. I thought it might be fun if I post my pictures here weekly. I hope you enjoy, but if not oh well! And let's be real... what are the odds of my actually posting weekly? hehe

 

Completed Tiramisu Blanket

Finishing up a doily at a local coffee shop!

Celebrating Matt's birthday at the elephant bar

The most amazing syrup from Fresh and Easy

My newest fashion statement -- fun nail art (and having fun with the Label Maker app)

My Mom and I made Thanksgiving dinner together this year. We did the tuirkey in a bag. It was amazing!!

First Thanksgiving Dinner, 2011

That about sums it up. Come back tomorrow so you can see a sweet new finished project!

Giveaway at Happy Together

Happy Wednesday. I still have a hard time believing that Thanksgiving is only a week away (okay, a week and a day). Also, that I'm co-hosting with my uncle for the first time this year -- which reminds me, I need to shoot him an email! Lastly, on this day last year, I was jetting off to Hawaii for some family time.

The family before Thanksgiving Dinner

 Oh how I wish we were there again...

Mai Tais and Pina Coladas on Thanksgiving Morning

I digress. The whole point of this post was to let you know that I am participating in Jess' Giveaway Day today. Jess blogs at Happy Together and she was one of my first blog friends. She is super sweet and genuine and uber creative. She also started doing these giveaways each month. You can check out mine, or all of the others that are going on. I hope you head over -- and good luck! [Oh! The prize is any item in my shop. So whatever you have been jonesin for, well it could be yours!]

You could win this!

Thankfully Stitching

So I have been doing some crocheting lately, but I have also cross stitching. The projects are just much more portable. I finished these little thanksgiving samplers a few hours after I took this picture. Now I just need to mount them and put them on the wall. I LOVE finishing projects!

I am currently crocheting the "table set" of doilies. I am finishing the last motif (this last one is largest with 14 motifs) right now and have the border to go. I will be SO GLAD to be finished with these!! It was an order for a set of three. Totally unrelated... My cat found the empty can of salmon in the trash...

    

Carlisle Cullen's Baseball Scarf Pattern

This pattern has been over a year in the making, so you can imagine how excited I am to share it with you today! So excited that I made it a second post today instead of waiting til tomorrow! It does not take a year to make, I just got distracted by other projects and put it on the backburner. I wish I had finished it earlier though, because it is just so dang cute! Be forewarned -- this has a lot of weaving in. No two rows are the same color and you cannot carry over the yarn, so you have to weave in the beginning and end of each row.

Carlisle's Scarf



Materials:
Size H Hook (I crochet really tight, so use whatever works best for you)
Yarn Needles (for weaving in those really irritating ends, and there will be a lot)
Sport or Worsted Size Yarn in Black, Grey, and White (less than 1 skein each)

Abbreviation meanings:
Rnd: round
FC(sc): Foundation Chain, Single Crochet

FC (hdc): Foundation Chain, Half Double Crochet

sc: Single Crochet
hdc: Half Double Crochet
FO: Fasten off

Rnd1 (White): 16 FC(sc), 220 FC(hdc), 16 FC(sc). FO. Turn. (this is going to be the length of your scarf, so make sure it is the exact length you want).
Rnd2 (Grey): 16 FC(sc), sc into 1st FC(hdc) (17th stitch), hdc through all FC(hdc), 16 FC(sc). FO. Turn.
Rnd3 (Black): 16 FC(sc), sc across hdc (220 sc), 16 FC(sc). FO. Turn.
Rnd4 (White): 16 FC (sc), sc into 1st sc, hdc across through all sc (219 sc), 16 FC(sc). FO. Turn.
Rnd5 (Grey):  Repeat Round 4
Rounds 6 - 20: Repeat rounds 3 through 5 in the same order
Rnd21 (Black): Repeat round 3.

You are now done. You just have a million rows to weave in! I chose to use a FC for the beginning and end of each row just looks too thin if you only chain. Need help with stitche? Check out Lion Brand, and here you can find a video for the foundation single crochet and foundation half double crochet. Let me know if you need anything else!

There you have it. This beautifully striped scarf. I LOVE it so much! I'm not as Twilight crazy as I used to be, but I still like the scarf!

Christmas is Coming

I know. It is only November. Thanksgiving has not come. But we cannot deny the one-month-awayness of December, now can we? I may not advocate listening to Christmas music yet (except Charlie Brown, because that's acceptable), but I will totally encourage early-in-season gift making. I made these Christmassy items a few weeks ago in order to just get something off of my hook and feel like I was accomplishing something!

Check out the original posts (star, scrubby) for more details!

PS. I am still learning this whole one space after a period thing. It is rocking my world. And not in a good way.

Sweet CAL Finished Up!

I know, I know... I am like 2 weeks late! I was not super motivated to get this picture up. Probably because I was alone in this CAL. Now, that is just sad! haha I guess I will just hold off on future CALs for awhile. How cute is this candy, though?

Can you see my freaky arm shadow? haha I did finish up a few other projects, so those will be posted soon -- once I get some good pictures! Hope you have a fantastic weekend! And if you did make some sweet candy along with me, please post a link here!

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Update: I was totally not alone! Rengawk made some super cute candy corn. Go on and check out her post for a bunch of pictures, but here is one that I stole.

Thanks for joining in! Any other lurkers out there who played along in this sweetness?