I've Been Tagged

I was tagged this past weekend by Gold and must reveal 7 unknown things about myself. Then tag 7 other people. BEWARE YOUR NEXT!!!!!!

1. Despise driving.

2. Of all the rooms in my house… I love to hangout in my bathroom

3. I want a tattoo, but terrified.

4. Finally learned to love cooking.

5. Always wanted to be a Belly Dancer

6. Ok…. what else….ummmmm… this is getting hard… oh yeah... I think I can sing…. lol

7. I’m a Day Dreamer....... whew that was hard.

Ok ladies Your Next:
mscrocheter
kinky coils
superstarraville
heavenly babies
yarns and musings
little piece of the net
sewing fantatic diary

Crochet & Fashion

I love when my daughter sports my crochet garments... Its makes for a proud mama wouldn't you say, also she is my walking advertisement...hehe. The weather was just ripe this week for it and thought I'd share a pic of her. Now this garment is a Flash Back. I purchased a bag of Bernat Yarn about a year ago on sale and wasn't sure what to do with it... In October 2006 I started fiddling around with it, initially thinking I would do a shrug... then decided a cardigan would do and as you can see it became a vest. Finally got a pic of her wearing it. She likes to call it the BeBop Girl Vest... I call it the Cool Water Vest... go figure.
In other News, my daughter will be participating in Lehman College's IDSA Fashion Show on April 30th. I can't wait to see her strut her stuff, along with the other young ladies... here is a snippet of the crew. All of the young ladies pictured are college students... putting their best foot forward. You Go Girls!!!! Also, one fourth of the profits will be donated to charity to help in the research of cancer. I'm so proud of my daughter in that she has had to travel nearly 2 hrs each way for 4 days a week to make rehearsals, on top of attending classes.... whew!

Flair

Finally finished one of my WIPs... I had worked up a tube top for my daughter, and somewhere along the way it was abandoned... Well yesterday she came home with a pair of pumping hot red shoes... and a light bulb went of in my head... (ooh dayummmm I didn't finish her top). Basically it was done, I just needed to add my embellishment. Flair has a little background to it... I started it last year, in an attempt to try my hand at crochet thread... worked it up to about 7" and frustratingly realized it wasn't working for me and stashed it away. Well, the urge to work with crochet thread reared its head again and I had started anew and managed to get the hang of it, creating a cute top for myself. While in the mist of looking for something I came across the unfinished top and proceeded to finish it and well.... here it is.... Flair was done with Aunt Lydia's Red crochet thread - size 10... using 1 strand for the body and double strands of red & white for the bottom. She is loooooving it... she tried on a few bottom pieces... and must say its a versatile piece... now she needs a matching bolero.

Week In Review

I have a new toy, which I purchased via Ebay.... a Ball Winder.....loving it.... I'll say it again... looooving it. It is so utilitarian. For some time I'd often carry around a large tote to accomodate my crochet projects... more so for the yarn, especially when working 2 yarns. Now, with the Ball Winder, I can twist up several strands of yarn and have one large ball or a few small ones, instead of lugging around 2 ziplock bags with bulky skeins. This week my arms got a total workout... I twisted up multiple strands of yarn into convenient cupcakes... sooo cute. Also I purchased some silk yarn, which was packaged into cones... and immediately knew the Ball Winder was worth it.

I received numerous emails on Lila regarding the zipper and wanted to share with you a close-up of the sweater on the wrong side. You will notice white strips of bias tape, which I used as a stabilizer and also as a guide for placing the zipper. I used iron-on hem tape to affix the bias tape to the sweater and then baste stitched the zipper onto the sweater, only to realize I purchased a close-end zipper, and needed a jacket zipper instead. Refusing to go back to the fabric store I searched my stash and found a black jacket zipper, which was too long and tweaked the length for the sweater. So I removed the wrong zipper and attempted to remove the bias tape and quickly realized it was not feasible and proceeded with using the jacket zipper (hence the sloppy alignment). Once all was in position, I sewed the jacket zipper in place with my sewing machine. I must say I learned a valuable lesson working with bias tape and zippers... and look forward to creating more projects using zippers, but will definitely have all the right paraphernalia before going full speed ahead...lol.
Crochet Today (Feb/March 07) issue has a beautiful Vest on the cover... Savvy Sweater Vest. Totally diggin it and thinking I must add to my To Do List.... have some Aunt Lydia's size 10 crochet thread in black and white and... twisted up several strands with my new toy...hehe.. and thinking it would be perfect for this project. OmGoodness.... this tank is totally awesome... its an advertisement pic for Nashua Handknits, featured in Interweave Crochet (Spring 07) issue. I recently received my 100% silk lace weight yarn, called tapestry green, I've twisted up several strands and contemplating if it would work for this project... so I need to continue twisting up the rest of the yarn and do some sketching to figure out how to work up this project.

I started working up the wrap skirt for the Bikini set (a/k/a Sasha) when I should've been working on the lining for the bikini... but thats me... all over the place. I had a couple of balls left of the 8/2 100% Cotton yarn and went to work on the skirt. I initially worked the skirt in 2 pieces front and back and then seamed it together. I usually do skirts in the round but opted to try something different... and like the way its coming together. Now I'm just working it from left to right until desired length... I haven't decided if I am going to do ties are a large button for the closure... so stay tuned.

Crochet for the Summer

This Summer anything crocheted is the sweetheart of the moment from garments trimmed with crocheted lace to crochet dresses, tops, shoes and bags...

Rafe Crochet Bag @ Bloomingdales: $375.00

Crochet Dress @ Neiman Marcus: $198.00

Diane VonFurstenberg Crochet Mini Dress @ Saks: $365.00

Mac & Jac Crochet Cardigan @ Nordstrom: 89.00

Crochet Bikini & Crochet Sweater

Friday nite I returned home with a cone of 8/2 size, 2-ply unmercerized cotton in celery... I caressed it as my mind thought of all the things it could become... and settled on something for the summer. I decided a cute bikini set would be perfect for when the heat becomes too unbearable. For the pattern I referred to Gayle Bunn's pattern in Family Circle Easy Knitting Magazine (Spring/Summer 2006). Now that its done... I'm thinking a sarong would really make it complete... so stay tuned.

On another note, I completed Lila... my daughter totally loves it. Initally we were undecided on the fastner. In my search for the final touch, I came across a plastic ring... and crocheted yarn around it... but quickly realized it wouldn't work... and abandoned it. So we then decided on buttons and unable to find what we wanted in my button stash... I headed on to the fabric store... and decided I would try a zipper. I get home all excited about the fastner and proceeded to put this project to rest... halfway through baste stitching the zipper to the sweater... I realized I purchased the wrong darn zipper... I needed a jacket zipper... and had to undo what I did. Determined to finish the sweater... I dug in my stash and came up with a jacket zipper but in the wrong color and 22" long. I needed to adjust the zipper length and tediously adjusted it to use on the sweater.... and after all was done.... Tadaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

HAPPY EASTER

Goings On...

Glad the Weekend is here. I have been busy as a bee this week, working on different projects.

On Monday I started another crochet thread project, called Lila, I haven't decided if it will be a top or cardigan until I finish the left side. I am working it up in shaded lavender and a solid lavender. I have completed the back using single crochet and a cross stitch, Now I'm working on the right front which is being done in single crochet with a wide panel of the solid lavender... totally feeling this piece. Tuesday I returned to the Halter top project, which has become a disaster.. I didn't like the way the halter was turning out so I attempted or rather I changed it to a tank.. I'm not happy with the straps, and although I made sure the pieces were assembled on the correct side... one of the pieces ended up on the wrong side... darn it... I need to get an Ott lite. So for now I'll direct my attention to the pants part of this project... crossing fingers, eyes and toes on this one...lol Wednesday, I reorganized my craft paraphernalia, my brother was kind enough to mount my new Baskets that I'd purchased from Target. My brother is too funny, he was like what else are you going to put on this wall.? I have nearly used all of the wall space... and you're only seeing half of the wall...hehe... Thanks Bro....
Thursday, I finished the last of the yarn for Cora... and ventured out to find another skein... no luck... so for now its on hold...

while in search for more yarn for Cora I purchased a few balls of lime colored yarn to mix with my recently received yarn from Mimi Crochet Stuff to do a bikini set for my niece...

and I also purchased more fabric and easy New Look patterns...

Updated Cora in the Works

I've managed to get the back and straps done... and lucky that I'm working it up in Lion Brands Baby Soft yarn b/c you get 459 yards to a skein... so with that I have managed to get a bit done.. and now working on lengthening it... I think I have about a 100 yards left.. so I will continue with it and see how long it gets... then I may go with Del's or Mary's suggestion about using black of which I have some of the black baby soft yarn leftover from a cardigan I did or consider purchasing more. I'm really trying not to buy an additional skein... b/c I'll end up seeing some other colors and start buying unnecessarily.