WHAT? A NEW YEAR???

Okay, I cannot believe it has been a year since my last post. I have really good excuses...Facebook, Ravelry, Pinterest.....ok, not the best excuses, but great ways to waste time! I have been knitting, believe it or not, and it feels great. Today I took a little break and tried my hand at some crochet. I learned to crochet when I was young. Nothing fancy, but the basic stitches seemed to stick. There is a distinctive look to crochet, which you cannot replicate with knitting needles. I am playing around with some accent pieces to add to my knitting. I think it may be fun. I can say that I am a knitter at heart and I don't think that is going to change. I will leave you with a few photos of some finished objects from 2011 to present. I hope it is not another year before you hear from me again!

DON'T BE SO SQUARE

Here they are...six granny squares...1/2 of the Larger Than Life Bag. I did some math and decided that each color needed to be used three times, once as each portion of the square, and that would assure that each was different...it may be fuzzy math, but I think I can use the same "formula" and not have any two squares alike. Six more squares and then the fun begins...assembling the bag. Stay tuned.

I also stared to turn the heel on my second Monkey sock and hope to finish it soon. My sock blockers arrived from the Loopy Ewe so I should be able to block my socks and see the final product. I bought the plastic sock blockers so that they would not warp over time. They are red and actually, I think they would make great Christmas decorations hanging from some pretty ribbon :-)

GRANNY SHOT

Ok, it's not knitting...it's crochet! My mother taught me to crochet and knit a long time ago - most likely because I begged her and drove her crazy with questions. Needless to say, I didn't really keep up with either. When I decided a few years back to craft gifts for Christmas, I picked up the crochet hook. It was amazing how the stitches came back to me. However, when I discovered the knitting needles for the second time, I was hooked (no pun intended). I don't know why, but I really LOVE to knit and it makes my hands very happy. So, imagine my surprise when the Larger Than Life bag came into my life. My friend, KS, dangled the pattern in front of me, and then Cara, at January One decided to join the cause...so, here they are - the first three of twelve granny squares(1/4 of the way there!). I must say, I am enjoying putting them together and they do work up quite quickly. I am using Red Heart Soft Yarn - 100% Acrylic in six colors. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

AND...look what arrived in the mail today fromThe Loopy Ewe (www.theloopyewe.com)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is two skeins of the yummiest Claudia Hand Painted Yarn (Louet) in Chocolate Cherry (don't you love the name?) finerging weight, 100% merino wool...Right now I have no idea what it will be but I am enjoying just running my hands over it...stay tuned...