Sweet Crochet Along, Update 2

This week we show off our finished projects.  I know a few of you have started working on some sweet little candies, and I cannot wait to see them!  I actually did crochet a few more pieces yesterday (as I watched Revenge of the Bridesmaids on my iphone), but forgot to get a picture.  So, here is some sweet Candy Corn pinterest love...

via Craftberry Bush

via Be Different, Act Normal

via Your Home Based Mom

I promise to get my pictures up later this week.  But I really want to make some Candy Corn Fudge (it's just Vanilla Frosting and White Chocolate chips, people!!)  Now please, tell me that I am not the only one who crocheted some candy!

Updates!

Happy Monday!  So we are going to do a Sweet Crochet Along.  I am super excited about it!  I want to be finished by Halloween, so that gives us at least six weeks to finish this bad boy up!

I also finished this doily.  Pretty sweet.  Check out my original post for more info!  Have a great day.

Patriotic Coaster Round Up!

I have been super busy and have not yet posted the coaster roundup.  It is finally here though!  Thank you so much to everyone who participated!  It was a lot of fun -- and quick!  I believe I promised some sort of prize, and I promise that I will think of something.  I'm just not sure what exactly to do yet!

Here are my coasters:

January - Yellow, Pink, & Sparkly

Jenn - Jenn Likes Yarn

Paula - Confessions of a Crochet Pattern Slut

Rengawk - Rengawk's Ramblings

Holly Louise - 'Cause I'm a Blonde

Laura - A Day of Grace

I love how creative everyone is!  Each person made it their own -- in some way or another!  Thanks again to everyone for participating.  If I missed someone, please let me know in the comments and I will add you!

Patriotic Coaster CAL -- Complete!

I finished my coasters and FINALLY got some pictures of them.  They are not the best, as I remember to take them at 11 pm last night; but they will work!  I love how they turned out, they are super cute!

I cannot figure out the best orientation for this picture. I think I just need to take a new one! haha  Also, here is that table runner that I was talking about last week.  I made it for my Mom a few years back.  I'm going to see if I can get that picture to rotate, but I make no promises! haha

I cannot wait to see the rest of your coasters.  Post a link in the comments and I will do a final round up later this week!

Patriotic Crochet Along Participants

Thank you to everyone who has joined in so far.  I am having a blast crocheting my little coasters, and it has been fun seeing why you all chose to do it!  Here are the participants so far:

Jenn (Jenn Loves Yarn) is doing Red, White, and Blue.  The blue she chose is unique, and I love the combination of colors!

Paula (Confessions of a Crochet & Cross Stitch Pattern Slut) is also doing Red, White, and Blue -- and she finished hers already! I love the border that she added to around the edge, and the two with variagated yarn.  I have been looking for that yarn all over!  Also, cotton was probably a much better choice than my acrylic / polyester!

Rengawk (Rengawk's Ramblings) is joining us for her first crochet along!  I love it when people join up for the first time! She has a fun selections of reds, whites, and blues!  [And Rengawk, welcome to the CAL world!  I tried to comment on your post, but blogger was being weird and would not let me!  :(  ]

Holly Louise ('Cause I'm a Blonde) has a super cute blog, and has also finished up her coasters already!  She made a set in red, white, and blue for her grandma (how sweet is that??) and in pinks for herself! [And hello to you too, blogger would not let me post my comment on your blog either!]

Major props to the ladies who finished already.  They do work up pretty quick, don't they!  I finished up mine, I just need to get pictures taken!  Go ahead  an post here if you decided to join late, or if I missed you, or if you finished your set!  I cannot wait to see them all!

Patriotic Crochet Along

Last week, I talked about doing some sort of crochet along for the Fourth of July.  I know that pretty much limits this to Americans, but I am American and that is just the way the cookie crumbles!  However, with the pattern I chose, you can use different colors and make it non-American.  I am totally okay with that!  [Thanks for asking, Nevelyn.] Which pattern are we doing, you ask?  Why the Star Coaster of course!  And I would totally love to see it in your country's colors -- or whatever colors you like!

The goal of this little crochet along is to complete a set of four coasters by July 4, 2011.  That gives you exactly two weeks!  So let's break this down into 2 blog posts.  First, this week, tell a little about yourself and what colors you chose.  If you want, take a picture of your materials!  Leave a link back to your post in the comments, and I will try to do a compilation post later this week.  I would use a linky tool, but they are no longer free and I'm cheap. haha

I will start!  I'm Megan (I hope you know that if you are here) and I chose red, white, and blue because I love the U S of A!  I also realized that my husband loves having a Fourth of July party, and I do not really have any patriotic decor -- the shame!  I made this awesome table runner for my Mom a few years back and planned to make one for myself, but I get craft-stracted (that's distracted by other crafts).  Maybe I will pick up some star spangled fabric on clearance this year!

I got started on my star coasters a day or so ago (okay so I get to cheat the system when I set up the crochet along.  I had a nice cup of (decaf -- it was 10 pm) coffee and some Seventh Heaven on dvd... I was kickin it old school!  I have one coaster done.  Three more to go!  I decided to switch up the color order & maybe use 2 different blues (see the top picture).  The first one was a little bunchy at first -- but a little blocking fixed that problem right away! 

Now, I can't wait to hear who is joining me!  And what colors you will be using.  Oh yeah, and I will definitely be sending out a little goodie to a random participant -- I will draw names after the second post!  Don't forget to leave a comment with a link to your post about the crochet along!  Try to have your comment up by Monday, June 27th!

Planet June Crochet Along

Do you guys remember June ?  She is the designer of the pumpkin pattern that we used in the Crochet Along. Well, yesterday she released new Christmas ornament patterns.  The ornaments sure are beautiful. 

The baubles (right) are the newest ornaments that you can purchase from Planet June

I wanted to let you know that June is hosting a sweet Crochet Along on her blog, with some awesome prizes.  I am going to enter.  I plan to make the Christmas Pudding ornament, as that has been on my to do list for a very long time (and will show up on CED later this month).  If that goes well, I hope to buy a pattern, maybe the pocket ami or the Christmas tree.  They both look amazing! 

Anywho, I just wanted to let you all know about the Crochet Along.  Do you think you will enter?  You have over a month to do so!

Images from June's website. 

Final Pictures & a Winner!!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in the Crochet Along!  I wanted to share 3 more pictures -- and announce the winner of the giveaway!  This was the first crochet along for many of you, and I am so glad to share that with you.  When we do the second one later this month, it will no longer be your first CAL! haha

Number 4 is by Paula

Number 5 is by Megan
and you must check out her post -- she made an adorable bat to go along with the pumpkin, the bat from here, of course! haha

and lastly, Number 6 is by softcheese

We had 1 email entry, six link up entries (mine didn't count, obviously!), and 4 comment entries.  The winner is...

Link #6 (count the email as 1, and then count over link up squares, skipping mine).  Congrats to Megan at Fowl Single File.  If you have never read her blog, you should definitely check it out.  She is not strictly crochet -- although I loved the crocheted accessories on her daughter's Halloween costume this year!  Megan, shoot me an email with your address and I will mail out your prize!!

Finished Pumpkins!

I wanted to show off some of the pumpkins in our little pumpkin patch.

First we have Melody's.  This is my hometown friend who I think needs a blog.  She is cooking through Julia Child's cookbook and makes other yummy stuff.  She also sews and crochets gorgeous things.  She is going to open an etsy soon, and I told her she HAS to get a blog first! hehe  Anywho, she is a little overachiever with 3 pumpkins and a ghost!!

Next, we have Missie's pumpkin from Crafting with Cat Hair.  I totally understood her problem once she explained her blog name -- cat hair was always getting in her projects!  haha  Our cats are currently in the garage  because my hubby is allergic and we have to avoid all allergens for the next 14 weeks as he is in treatment.  :(  Anyways, Missie's pumpkin turned out super cute!

The last picture for today is Joan's pumpkin from Just Joan.  She linked up with a pumpkin from a previous CAL, but I let her do it because it adds nice variety!

Again, the pumpkin pattern is from Planet June, and Mel's ghost is from Lion Brand.  I'm not sure what pattern Joan used.

My Pumpkin!

Here it is!  I love how this pumpkin turned out!  It is just so pumpkiny!  You can see it next to a real pumpkin and a plastic one... which one is which??  haha  This pattern was super easy and turned out incredibly cute!

And below you can see the CAL pumpkin alongside the Lion Brand pumpkin.  I much prefer the CAL one!  What do you think??

Thanks to everyone who is joining this CAL with me!

October Crochet Along - Pumpkin!

It is time for our Crochet Along!  The day is finally here!  Can you tell how excited I am?  I met up with one of my friends (and a reader, at that) last Friday for coffee and pulled out my orange yarn.  "Shhh," I said, "I'm staring the crochet along a little early... I HAVE to finish this in time!"  She laughed and pulled out her 2 complete pumpkins, "I already started too," was her response!  All that being said, I am still not completely finished with my pumpkin.  Actually, I am a bit further than this picture though.  I have since gathered the bottom.  Then I realized that I left my fiberfill at home and could not finish my project on my lunchbreak, but must wait until I got home.

Have any of you finished your pumpkins?  Remember, you have to finish by Sunday, Halloween, to be considered for the prize drawing!  Once I figure it out, I will put up a Mr. Linky on this post, so you can all link to your finished project pages.  I will give you one entry in the drawing for utilizing the linky thing and linking to your post.  I will give you a second entry for leaving a comment saying who you are and how your pumpkin turned out (and if you didn't actually join us in the CAL, just say who you are and why you didn't join us!).  If you do not have a blog (ahem, Mel), please email me a picture of your pumpkin and I will post it, giving you one more entry.  So 2 chance to win - one for a comment, and one for linking up / email a picture of your pumpkin.  Contest closes Sunday at midnight.

Oh yeah, wanna know what you can win?  Well remember the pic from last week?  You still have the pattern from BGG and choice of yarn color and notecards, but I am also going to toss in a few hooks.  I just got a brand new set of Susan Bates plastic hooks from Missie (also, thanks for teaching me how to use the linky thing!) and I will share 2 of them with you.  So you get to pick any 2 hooks, between the sizes of F and K.  :)

Go ahead and comment away -- and link up :)

October Crochet Along

Hello lovely readers!  I am so excited to announce our first CED crochet along!  I gave you three options last week, and here is the winner:

It's the pumpkin from Planet June!  Everyone was really excited about this pattern, as well as the pinecone.  I decided that we could do the pumpkin now, and the pinecone later.  I really hope you join me in this crochet along! 

I am also going to do a little giveaway along with this CAL (you know, crochet along!).  You will win your choice of any single Big Girl Jewelry pattern.   I bet you remember seeing my finished scrubby, right?  Well those were BGJ's patterns.  Check out her etsy and have a look around.  You can choose any of her single patterns if you win!  Personally, I LOVE the Chubby Nubby scrubby.  You can also choose one of the three yarn colors below, as well as the card set.

The yarn options & a cute set of cards (they say rest a minute)

Interested?  I will post more details once I start the CAL. But you can get together your supplies. Here is what you need:

• Pattern (you can print it out or just pull it up online)
• Yarn - worsted weight in orange and green or brown.  I am going to use Vanna's Choice, because that is what I have leftover from making a couple pumpkin beanies.
• Size E Crochet Hook
• Excitement -- to join in on the fun!

I hope you join us.  Leave a note in the comments if you plan on joining.  We will start crocheting next Monday (10/24) and be finished by that Sunday (Halloween!). 

Crochet Along -- You Choose!!

So I know I talked a lot about a crochet along.  I now have 3 options for you.  We can either do a fall or Christmas theme.  Up to you guys!

Here are our three pattern options:

Pumpkin

 Pinecone

Christmas Pudding Ornament

What do you choose?  Which pattern should we do for our first crochet along?  (oh yeah -- and there will be a prize for those who play/crochet along!)

Christmas Tree Crochet Along

I finished my first Crochet Along for this Christmas season!  Woo hoo!  Here is my finished product:

Sorry for the terrible lighting, but I love my little tree.  I made the small tree from this pattern (and yes, it will be a CED pattern later this year)!  Thanks to Crafting with Cat Hair for hosting this CAL.  I always love crocheting along with her.  Have you guys ever done a Crochet Along?  And yes -- our will be starting soon!

La Push Crochet Along: Update

I have been working very hard on my blanket, but I just did not finish in time. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew, maybe I planned on crocheting at a time when I couldn't... I was going to finish on our drive to and from Mexico this weekend, until hubby informed me that there would be 6 of us in his truck. Talk about a tight squeeze! haha Thankfully, we only had 4 for the return trip (no, we didn't leave 2 there... they just went in another car), but I had left my blanket at home for space reasons. I have almost completed the blanket though, and I probably just need a few more hours for those final rows of joining & the edging. I thought I would share my pics from Tuesday night though, when I tried to finish it...

This is when the kitten was just hanging out with me. She took a nap at the end of the couch as I joined rows...

My wonderful hubs took a picture of me, covered in my la push blankety goodness, on my phone! That bad posture is probably why my back hurts so much. :(


Can I really call her a kitten still? I mean, she is like 8 months old now... Anywho this is when I gave up. I could not get much more done, and she would not leave my lap.


Hopefully I will be able to finish up the blanket this weekend, and post completed pictures! Thanks so much to Missie for hosting this Crochet Along, I'm definitely going to do another one! And check out Missie's page, for pictures of her completed blanket!

Granny Along Week #7

We're in the home stretch - and I have so much left to do! On the other hand - I only have to do 2 more squares with green. Just those two squares need the 4 rows, and I'm done! Can you see what a mess my green thing of yarn is?


Oh, and I met my goal of finishing 11 squares (for a total of 15 complete) on Monday. I want to do 10 or more this week. I am not sure if I can make the June 30th goal, but I will keep trying! I should be weaving in my ends as I go. That is the most hated part of crocheting for me! haha

Question: What is your hook of choice?

I prefer metal hooks - I just think they are nicer. But they do tend to get squeaky when my heads are all sweaty in these hot So Cal summers. I think my stitches are also a bit larger when using metal, but I'm not 100% sure of that!

Crochet Along Weeks 4 and 5

I have been gone from the crochet along posts for the last few weeks, but I'm still here, I promise! I was in Washington / Idaho for most of last week, so I got a bit behind on updating the CAL posts. I have been working on the blanket, little by little. But I am realizing that I have A LOT more to do! So these next few weeks will be critical. This is what I have so far:

Completed:

4 complete squares

7 with 2 complete layers (white centers with the green middle section)
9 small white squares

15 small green squares

My goal for this week: 17 complete squares. That means finishing up all of the white center squares. It is a big goal, but I just may be able to finish it!

And another reason I am so behind, I'm working on a blanket for a sweet baby girl due in July. I want to get both done now, and keep switching back and forth between the 2 projects. Here is a work in progress pic of the heart blanket:


Question for this week: What gets you in the mood to crochet? I'm always in the mood to do something crafty, especially if I am in the middle of a project. Right now, I'm just trying to focus on FINISHING projects! haha I do like to crochet with a tv show (Grey's Anatomy, Glee, Vampire Diaries, etc) or a movie.

What inspires you to crochet, or what do you have in the background while working, dear readers?

Granny Along Week #3

Week 3:

This week I made a lot of progress on my squares - and decided to go big and make the full size blanket. Wow. That's a major step for me! I will pretty much have to double what everyone else is doing in the CAL to keep up. I have now completed all 20 of my inner white squares, 6 of those to the green layer, and 4 of those are completely finished (minus weaving in ends. that's my least favorite part!). I have also made 5 of the 15 inner green squares that I need to make.

My goal for this week: finish the inner green squares and complete 4 of the squares that are white / green already.




Another assignment for this week was to list our favorite crochet blogs. I regularly read one of Missie's listed faves, Attic 24.

I also really like Hannah over at Bittersweet. She posts a mixture of Vegan recipes and crochet patterns - quite a different mix, I know! She seems like a real sweetheart and I love checking out her blog, whenever she has a new post up!

Lastly, I am a fan of Pren over at Convival Crafter. She is a huge Harry Potter and Twilight fan, just like myself! She also does Renaissance Faire stuff, so that is fun to read about.

Both girls are on Ravelry, and both have contributed patterns to the community over there.

Want to see how everyone else did this week? Check out Week 3.