So, I got a digital camera for Christmas, which means that I was able to update my Ravelry page (yay! add me - I'm fancysimages) and take picture of finished Christmas presents. Yes, I took the pictures after they were unwrapped. First, my mom's blanket, rejoined and blocked to look fabulous. My mom loved it.


Second, my dad's hat and scarf set. Both parts were improvised and I must say that I am very happy with how they came out. I may make another hat for myself, but definitely using just one color and probably the back loop only method to give it some texture. He also loved it, but he said it was too warm to wear inside, which means it will be perfect for outside. Yay!


Last, my sister's blanket. I finished this late Tuesday night and didn't have time to block it. (We celebrate on Christmas Eve. A walk, a big dinner, then presents. Whee!). She really liked it, but I'm gonna have to take it back from her for a little bit to get rid of the wonkiness in the middle. Oh and it's not small - that Astronomica book in the picture is huge. It's probably more than a foot and a half tall, and it's heavy too.


As for me, I got the camera, a Wii Fit, some clothes, a crochet book, a knit and crochet book, a trilogy illustrated by Edward Gorey, an M&M watch, a wonderful cook/scrap book that my mom made for me that contains traditional Rusyn recipes (both in Slovak and in English) and photos of my family (great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and us.), and a beautiful hand woven scarf that my sister made for me. It was a good Christmas. Everyone was happy and it was great to be together.

What's going on?

So I finished my Dad's hat, realized that the yarn I need to finish my mom's blanket was left at school, and been stuck inside for the past two and a half days. It's really pretty outside though. I wish I had a camera so I could take some pictures, but I don't. Maybe I'll get one for Christmas *crosses fingers*. I'm going out to get the yarn I need to finish my mom's blanket and then I'll probably spend the rest of the day working on my sister's blanket. I should be able to get that done today. Then I'll finish my mom's and I'll be good for my family. I do still have to make some snowflakes for Corey's parents, but that shouldn't take up too much time. As for Corey's present, I don't have to worry about that just yet, since we again decided to exchange gifts at the end of our winter break, as he doesn't work at school, and I work very little then. We've both got plenty of hours at the Y now, so things shouldn't be a problem at the end of January.

Massive Update

So, I should be doing any of the following:
Reading so I can finish my last paper
Doing said paper
Studying for my other finals
Working on Christmas presents.

Unfortunately, I don't much feel like doing any of them, so instead I will be updating this blog. YAY!

First, things with pictures:



Lion Brand CAL - The Sampler Afghan.
I have two squares done. That's all. I wasn't very excited with the pattern to begin with, but I'm taking it back to NA with me for Winter Break so hopefully it will get done then. Yarn is Jo-Ann's Rainbow Sensation or something like that.



Rogere de Renard - the friendly fox that accompanied my friend Beth to Paris for her semester abroad. Apparently, he's very happy there. The pattern was adjusted from a knit pattern found on lionbrand.com. Made with white and orange Fun Fur.



Rose 'Ghan from Crochet Today - I was very happy with this, but I had to put it aside to start working on Christmas presents. It's coming back to NA with me too, so I really want to get it done. This is made with Caron One Pound in Off-White or Beige, not exactly sure what the color is called.




Socks - I gave up on these some time ago because I have to frog a part of it and I just don't find them important enough to get back to work on. These are coming home over Winter Break, maybe I will finish them. Berroco Comfort DK and a pattern from "You Can Crochet Socks" which I got at Annie's Attic.



Corey's Birthday Blanket - The colors look much better in real life. I'm extremely happy with this, and so is Corey, he has it with him all the time - watching TV, taking a nap, reading, doing homework. He loves it. And I'm really glad about that. :) This was made with Vanna's Choice, and a pattern from Crochet Today magazine - I think it was called graphic grid afghan or something like that.



Radka's X-Mas Blanket Attempt #2 - I am extremely happy with this. It's actually gotten much bigger since I took the picture. I am currently on round 35 of 40 so I just need to keep trudging at it and get it finished. Vanna's Choice again, and the pattern is from Geometrics.



UMass Skinny Scarf - I found that I had a lot of this yarn lying around (both the white and the maroon) in various colors. So I made this scarf to begin with, and then two more:

The pattern was improvised, and I don't remember the name of the yarns because they were 99 cent yarns from Building 19.



Donation Scarves: #2, #4 and #6 in the second picture were made by Corey. The last one in that picture was made by Heather. It was a club project (will explain about the club later), but I ended up doing most of them. :( Various yarns and imporvised patterns.



Scarf for Dad for Christmas. Currently working on a matching hat. Hopefully it will be done soon. Both are improvised and made with Caron Simply Soft Eco.


Here is a picture of Sarah's finished blanket. The colors in this picture are much more true to life, except they're not actually that visible through the black Fun Fur. The other yarns in this were Caron Simply Soft Quick Brites and Red Heart Sunshine Print.


Thick and Chunky UMass Scarf. I knew the cold weather was coming and I wanted something warm for the football game/UMMB (Marching Band), so I made this. I love it. It feels like I'm wearing a blanket around my neck whenever I put it on. It's made from Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.



Meshy Scarf. The yarn for this was rather expensive, so I've been putting off finishing the other half of it. It's more of a spring scarf, so I definitely have time to finish it. I'll probably take this home over Winter Break to work on too. The yarn was Bonnie I believe, but I'm not sure of the brand. The pattern is improvised.



Random scarf that I started making for no real reason. Not sure if I'll ever finish it or not, mostly because I don't know if I have enough yarn, and which hook I used (I think it was a K). Vanna's Choice with an improvised pattern.


Cardi from Crochet Today. I changed the colors, and I had to use quite a larger hook size. This has been on hold for awhile, because it got cold out and I had other things to work on. Maybe I'll get a chunk done on it over Winter Break. The yarn is Red Heart Designer Sport.


Sunshine Scarf - This was a stash-buster scarf to get rid of leftover yarn from Sarah's Blanket. I ended up needing to buy a new skein to finish off the last few double crochets. The picture above is actually only half the scarf, as I haven't taken a picture of it finished yet.


I call this 'Fancy Scarf' even though it's not really fancy, mostly because I can't think up a better name. It's actually quite a bit bigger than it was when I took the picture. It's made from baby yarn, not quite sure which, and the pattern is from Lion Brand Sampler Afghan (see first picture) It's the pattern from square 3. I'm just continuing the pattern until I think the scarf is long enough. I've been working on it between classes to kill time.

Well, that was the last of the pictures. What else is there?

Super Stretchy Blue Blanket - I made this in one night. I used Pound of Love in the annoying turquoise blue color and a Q hook. For how holey it is, it's actually amazingly warm. It doesn't look all that great, but it can stretch to accommodate several people, and like I said, it's warm. That's enough to make me want to make another one.

Homespun Pillow - I started this a long time ago, but haven't really done much on it. It's just single crochet with Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I started it when I was bored and didn't have any other yarn around.

Corey's Scarf - I started this about two summers ago. It's also made from Homespun, but it's knit which would explain why I put it away.

Baby Blanket - I started knitting a regular sized blanket on size 4 needles in a stockinette stitch. It was made with baby yarn and was going to be made of several panels. I gave up on that and decided to make it my "when I feel like knitting" project, as I know of no one who needs a baby blanket at the moment. Pound of love and some other baby yarn.

Snuggle Blanket - I really liked the way Wool-Ease Thick and Quick felt so I decided to make a blanket from it. I went to Michael's with Corey and we both picked out a color - he chose blue and I chose orange. It's going to be made in five strips, which will look like the Thick and Chunky UMass Scarf above, except three panels will start and end in orange and two in blue. I'm calling it a snuggle blanket because it will be ridiculously warm and amazing to snuggle under when power goes out. That will hopefully get done over Winter Break as well.

UMass Blanket - the last pictures I have of this show it less than half done, but I've made some progress on it. Unfortunately, I keep running out of yarn and I probably won't be able to afford to finish this for some time. In the hopes that I make enough at the Y over break (haha that's a joke, right?!), I'm bringing it home with me. Jiffy.

Happy/Angry Fishie - I improvised a fish for Corey's supervisor at work over the summer when she had an expecially rough day. It was supposed to be a happy fish, but when it was turned to the wrong side, it looked extremely angry. This is one that I will probably never get a picture of, but I don't really mind. It was nice enough to see her smile. Baby yarn/yellow Microspun.

Mouse - I made Corey a little red mouse from a pattern I found on Crochetville (KristieMN's pattern I believe). He had googly eyes but they fell off. The mouse currently lives in Corey's house on top of the piano.

Blue Bear - Same as yellow bear in previous post, except blue. Various baby yarn scraps.

Dead stick man - Improvised amigurumi with x's for eyes. Since he's brown he looks like a dead stick. Vanna's Choice.

Cell phone holder man - Another improvised amigurumi. A rather large square, with a square missing in the middle. Also has x's for eyes and fangs. Holds Corey's cell phone perfectly. Vanna's Choice.

Garden Gnome/Dumbledore - Vanna's Choice and random Red Heart scraps. Made from a pattern on lionbrand.com.

EuphMass Mittens - Corey decided to sell Umass hats and mittens to the Euphonium section. He designed the hats and I designed the mittens (the tops flip back for easy playing). He ended up making most of them, but I made the first pair.

Stashbusting Baby Yarn Scarf - to be perfectly honest, I don't know if I'll ever touch it again.

Mom's X-Mas blanket - Done, but I'm not very happy with the way it was joined (I used the slip stitch) so I'm going to take it apart and rejoin it. Vanna's Choice and Circle to Squares Afghan pattern from Lion Brand.

Snowflakes - I've been using size 60 crochet thread and a ridiculously tiny hooks to make snowflakes. I decided to do this after I got bored with making the paper ones. I ordered some books, but had them sent to NA, so I have to wait till I get home to make more. I'll have pictures after they're all made and starched.



PHEW. That was a lot. If you read it all, kudos. If not, I understand.

MUCH MUCH MUCH BUMBLEBEE LOVE

Tonka.

Update coming soon.

So I don't have much time now, but I've made a list of all things that need to be updated on this blog... and I think I came up with some ridiculous number, like 34 or something. Sooooooo, when I get the chance to do it (maybe tonight?), you will all get to hear about the 30-something things I've made/have been working on since the middle/end of the summer.

Tonka

Joining Snowflake Mondays. YAY!

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Update (again)

Wow... I sat down to do this like an hour ago, where did the time go? Anyway, I've decided that since Ravelry is pretty much eating up my life, I really have no reason to use this blog as a track of my projects. I do sometimes however, get really excited about something I've made, so I'll continue sharing such things with you.

So this blog will now be not only my craft blog, but also my general blog. I'll try to update weekly, and I'll definitely continue to share the lovely yarn things with you. (Please excuse me for repeating what I just said two sentences ago.)

I'll be back with a real post later.

~Tonka.

Update!!!

WIP 1. My sister's blanket is hibernating, as I found a better pattern and decided to use that instead. The blanket that was supposed to be my sister's blanket will probably end up being a baby blanket that I just keep until I have someone to give it too. It's way too small to be any other kind of blanket.
WIP 2. I am unfortunately again out of yarn for this one, so I have to go get it at some point. Unfortunately (again), I can't afford to do that. So it's going to be put on hold once I'm done with the two skeins I am currently using.
WIP 3. Sarah's blanket is finished. Pictures to come soon.

There are many new WIPs and completed projects that I will update when I have the time. I haven't been updating much here because I've been really excited about Ravelry. I've been there since August and I LOVE IT.

Add me if you wish, I'm fancysimages.

WIP #3

It's warm, it's fuzzy, it's thick, it's colorful, and apparently it's almost done. I used the basic chevron with this one (like my sister's blanket), but I also used three different yarns, and a Q hook. The yarns are: Red Heart Super Saver in sunshine print (fades from yellow to red and back), Caron Simply Soft in pink, yellow, and orange (pictured above, though they are in fact much brighter then they appear), and Lion Brand Fun Fur in black. Since the yarns are really thick when put together and the hook is huge, this one has worked up really quickly. The only problem is that the fun fur sheds everywhere. I have to finish this one before the end of the summer, because it's for my roommate for Hanukkah. I'm pretty sure she's gonna love it, cos I know I do.

CP #7 and #8

I'm putting these guys together into one post, because they're made from the same book and they both have the same basic shape. The top one was a skeleton bride for Radka, the exchange student who stayed with us last year. She loved it. The bottom one is a little devil for my sister, also named Radka. (Last year was a confusing year at my house). These guys come from an awesome book titled "Creepy Cute Crochet" and are made from Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn. Embellishments are made from tulle and embroidery thread for the bride and felt and embroidery thread for the little devil. Both have googly eyes. (YAY!) They are filled with both fiberfill and polypellets, which are used to keep them from toppling over. They stand about two inches tall.

CP #6

Little bear for my mom's keys! This is actually the second bear that I made, but Corey took the first one, so he'll be put in later. He's made from scrap pieces of baby yarn and stuffed with a little bit of fiberfill. The pattern came from Crochet Today! magazine, but I'm not sure which issue.

CP #5

I was waiting for one of the girls I babysit to wake up so I could get her ready for school (yes this was a while ago) and I decided to make a little crochet heart for her. It's made from Red Heart Super Saver in red, and with a p? size hook. I ended up using pink to make it into a necklace for her and she wore it to school that day telling everyone how awesome I was. She doesn't seem to think that as much anymore, but she still has it and I know she still likes it.

CP #4

I MADE SOCKS!!! YAY! So these guys just barely fit me, and I had just enough yarn to complete them (I was lucky I chose to use yellow for the heels and toes or I wouldn't have had enough). They are pretty thick and a little scratchy, but I think that was from the heat. I think they'll be great as dorm socks for the winter when I don't feel like leaving the room. They are crocheted, mostly because the knit sock patterns scared me, though I do want to try those eventually. The pattern was from LionBrand.com and it was titled "Joan Socks" or something similar to that. The blue yarn is some Swedish self-striping yarn that my mom found somewhere a few years ago and the yellow is baby yarn, though I'm not sure which brand.

WIP Update

WIP # 1: So, the blanket that I'm making for my sister has only had a few rows added onto it, but I've decided that in reality it's only about a fourth of the way done, since it's really small. So I'm going to make another one in the same colors, same width and everything, and I'm just going to sew it onto the side of the other one to make it bigger.

WIP # 2: My UMass blanket is about half way done but with everything that I've been working on and haven't completed, I don't know if it will be done before school starts. However, the first few home games take place in warm weather, so it gives me a few more weeks to complete it before I will need to have it for the games.

Also, all the projects that are going to be added shortly will most likely not be in order, since I don't really remember when I completed which. There are a few projects missing, since I either don't have pictures yet (because I'm lazy/busy), or they are at Corey's house and I haven't gotten the chance to take pictures of them.

Update

So we haven't died and we haven't stopped knitting/crocheting. There's a lot to update, but I haven't gotten the chance to take photos of everything yet, but once that happens, I will have a massive update. Most of my spare time has been spent crocheting, so there's a lot of new completed projects and lot of new WIPs. Hopefully, it won't be too overwhelming and it will give me a chance to get my projects organized. I guess we won't see until then.

Best,
Tonka.

WIP #2

This is the UMass picnic and football blanket that I've been making for awhile. I haven't spent much time working on it, since I've been busy with projects for other people, but it looks like I'll have more time to work on it during the summer. The pattern is from Vanna White's book Vanna's Favorite Crochet Gifts. This is the first pattern I've made from the book, but the pattern was really easy to follow and everything in it is great. After this one's done, I'm looking for another project from the book.

Tonka.

CP #3

This is a set of fours pillows that I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. The pattern is from "Circle to Squares Afghan" found online at Lionbrand.com. I used the largest size square for the front of the pillow, and the back is a brick-colored fabric from JoAnn's. It took me awhile to get through the pattern, because the corrections were incorrect, but once I figured it out, it worked up pretty quickly. I'm very happy with the final product.

Tonka.

WIP #1

This is my work in progress that I'm working on the most. It's a blanket in Vanna's Choice that I'm making for my sister for Christmas (yes, it's a little bit early). The pattern can be found online at lionbrand.com or in Vanna White's book, Color It Beautiful Afghans. I used different colors, because I felt they suit my sister better. The only problem I have found with the pattern, is that the "adult size" isn't quite big enough, so the project is at a bit of a smaller side right now. We'll see how the final thing looks, though, because there's still a border that's going to go on either side.

Tonka.

CP #2

This is a blanket that I made from the pattern on the back on the Rainbow Boucle yarn that I used. I found it at JoAnn's, and I love the texture. The blanket is a little bit on the smaller side, but it's really soft. I love it.

Tonka.

CP #1

This is a scarf I made for my friend Kayla, using my own design and Vanna's Choice (plum and olive) and Caron (white) yarn. I made eight squares of the same pattern, and then put them together as shown. They turned out not to be perfect squares, however, so I added the white x's to accent the design and to make it look a little better.

Tonka.

Hello There!

This is Corey and I. It's a bit of an older picture, but it's still my favorite. We'll be posting a few of our complete projects, as well as our works in progress over the next few days, so you can see what we've been working on. We'll also give updates on how our works in progress are going, so keep checking back often...

Much Bumblebee Love,

Tonka.