Confessions of a Sporadic Knitter...

I can't believe I have not posted anything since March. I have a lot of different excuses.

Let's see...

Excuse # 1:

Somehow, knitting, in my old German mind, is for cold days, long winters. And since I live in Texas, I have a hard time getting the knitting needles out in the summer.

So, at least I made some summer fare. Technically, not knitting, but at least some form of handy-craft. Flip-flops for all the summer visitors (Alicia modeling a pair):




Or...

Excuse # 2:

I have been working longer hours here and there and had less time for knitting...

But you can always use some shopping bags (and they also make great gifts - one of them was for my lovely friend Jane):







Okay, so technically, those were not knit, either. Maybe crocheting is for summer and knitting for winter?

Or...

Excuse # 3:

First, we had summer house guests, and now we have an exchange student from Germany (a permanent house guest for a year), and I have just been too busy. Here is another one of my lame excuses (the excuse is lame, not Theresa!!!) as we pick her up from the airport:



Which brings us to...

Excuse #4:

What with all the rearranging we had to do to accommodate the extra people in the house...

Or, how about...

Excuse #5:

We have been fostering puppies and dogs...

Here are Inuit, Tammy, and Penelope:



And this is our current foster dog, Woody:



Or...


Excuse #...

Oh well, enough with the excuses.

As you can see, I actually have been working on the occasional project (as you can see me sitting and knitting with my daughter):



I actually have been knitting, or crocheting, or whatever. I just have been really bad about posting. And I have an excuse for that, too:

FACEBOOK!!

But to catch you up, here are the other things I have been working on:

I crocheted a small cell phone holder for around the neck, because I have a wireless blue-tooth (is that redundant?) headset that doesn't reach if I hold the phone in my hand or have it in a pocket or purse. And I listen to music on my cell phone, so I need a good connection.

I finished another little baby blanket (squares are knit, border crochet) with the remainder of the yarn I had for my co-worker's baby blanket. This one will be for Karen:



Of course, with the obligatory lady bug!!!



A little baby/toddler hoodie. I have another one (much smaller) in the works, but am not sure if that one will ever get finished :). You know how that goes... But here is the one that did get done:



With pocket, of course :)




And remember, I had all those different kinds of Sugar'n Cream from all kinds of different projects.

I crocheted a little hat for a very old doll (almost as old as I am):



And I little iPod cozy with lipstick holder:



I tried to use all the remains up with this pillow cover:



It was also a nice chance to try out all kinds of different patterns.




I also made another attempt at felting:





As you can see, lots of little projects. But nothing really earth-shattering. Just lacking the right motivation (and time). But, Austin temperatures are finally below 100 degrees and maybe the slightly cooler and more pleasant ambient climate will help me to take a closer look at my stash...

Sugar and Spice, ahem, Sugar'n Cream...

I love Lily Sugar'n Cream yarn. It is so versatile, comes in an endless number of different colors and color-combinations, is easy to work with, and is inexpensive. I had already made all kinds of little things with that cotton yarn, like these cute little soap sacks for the shower:





Or this little cell phone (or i-pod) "hoodie":


I have also made a baby blanket and matching hat and socks for my friend Cissy and her baby girl Ayla a while back:



I had some of the orange-pink-yellow left and wanted to crochet another easy market bag similar to these I had already whipped up at some other time (also with Lily yarn):



But in the end, it didn't turn into a market bag, but rather a totally improvised, cute little backpack, which immediately found a new owner in Jenna, my friend Malinda's little 6yo daughter.


As always, my daughter the ever patient model...


And to show my appreciation to the model, I made this little lip balm holder for her:


...which she promptly attached to the belt of her robe (but which also fits around her wrist or could be attached to a key chain).


I still have a whole big bag full of Sugar'n Cream in all kinds of different colors. Oh, the possibilities...

More Totes

After my first market tote (with a limited amount of yarn) I had made from this inspiration...

















...I decided to make a couple more, slightly larger. I had bought a large skein of Lily Sugar'n Cream Super Size Green and started my first tote with that yarn. I didn't really follow any particular pattern, but rather just kind of winged it.


















I was pretty happy with the final product (this is my daughter modeling the tote):






















And a few more pictures (sorry about the strange lighting, but this really is the same tote with the same yarn):






As you can see, this tote has a relatively large opening and two handles. Since there still was lots of yarn left, I decided to make another tote. This time with a tighter opening and only one handle:



The yarn is pretty sturdy and makes for strong totes. Should hold some heavy groceries. And since the yarn is 100% cotton, the totes can be tossed in the washing machine.

I am putting both totes in my secret stash for presents, I think.

Crocheted Market Tote

Since my last market tote was knit, and I was not completely satisfied with the end-result, I thought I would crochet one this time. I found this Crochet Grocery Bag on Ravelry and gave it a try.

I have never crocheted anything following instructions, so it was a bit of a challenge. Unlike knitting, though, it seems that when you crochet, it's a lot easier to muddle through on your own. At least for me. And I usually don't mind if things don't come out exactly the way the pattern says. I have another skein of Knit Picks Cotlin (this time the color is Desert Turquoise) I will use. And I have a tad left-over from the other market tote I could use for the handles, maybe, if I run out of yarn.

It starts out looking very much like a doily:


I don't know if I made any mistakes with the increases, or (you guessed it, I am not much of a gauge person) the yarn just ran differently from the original pattern, but in any case, this turned into a very small bag. It certainly looks much smaller than the picture that came with the pattern. Oh well...


I used up one skein of the turquoise, then used the little bit of blue I had left for the handles. I love the pattern, and the shape and everything, it's just way small. My daughter immediately snatched it. I definitely want to make another one and just make it bigger.