YOP AND WIP WEDNESDAY 09/19/12

YOP: UPDATE 09/19/12

I am officially moving my BLOG DAY to TUESDAYS...with the new schedule I have here at home, I am finding it easier to catch up on YOP updates and my blog on this day of the week...I try to dedicate one full day to it and since my crafting time is now from Wednesday through Saturday, I think this will suit me just fine. 

An old friend of mine caught up with me over the weekend by phone and we are planning my first trip out of my immediate area to get me away for a weekend next month [Can you say coffee clatches and knits a go go! I am]! ..Don't know which weekend it will be, yet, but I will be unplugged for that time...I am in need of a break, its been 8 months of pretty much being the go to person here at home and since there are two others to take my place for a weekend, I am so going! I am looking forward to some wonderful fleamarket finds and discovering new dollar stores since moving here! We will also be dining out somewhere, [I really miss that, I haven't had a meal out since February]!  And it will be nice to meet my friends not so new husband, and now 2 year old daughter and catch up with her teenage son that I watched her raise as a single mom. [And I must say a very fine job she did too, just from the very brief conversations I've had with him, since they moved here 6 years ago]...

I have been busy crocheting some of the little projects I have going for Xmas and birthdays [this is my only current pic of what I did last week, sorry]...it is the Spa Set I made for one of my sisters for her birthday...The Soap Saver/Body Scrubber, the Spiral Scrubbie and Knit Spa Cloth round out the birthday portion of this set.....I will be making Spa Mitts to go with this set for her for Christmas....

Last week's FO Friday update was my first and showed only 2 of the pieces pictured,  I finished this third Soap Saver/Body Scrubber after those pics were posted for the week...Here is the link to Tami's Amis should you care to join us......

©PDBKNCPLACE

 I recently joined Crafter's Choice Book Club and got an amazing Introductory Deal...I was able to save over $100.00 off the Publisher's Price on 5 books...The deal was for four free....which I did get, but I got an additional one; that counted toward my yearly commitment of 2; for $5.00 that was originally priced at $20.00. Sweet! And I already know which book I will be getting next, in a few week's time...It is a Stitch Guide that I have been seeing floating around on the web here and there that I simply must have, called: 400 Knitting Stitches: A Complete Dictionary of Essential Stitch Patterns. Here is the Crafter's Choice weblink.

There are three promises that I made in some of my past posts that I need to touch base with here...First, my first video share with you all WAS of my new kittie, Molly Jane, but I did it to see if I liked the idea of vlogging....and I do...and I am hoping to begin with a tutorial of the piecework I am doing for my TATW bedspread/afghan...Please keep in mind, I have never read a finishing technique book and am doing this entirely on what I was shown to do by my mom...I don't expect perfection and am still pleased with my results even though my technique may NOT be how it should be correctly done....I just feel like making the attempt sometime in future, and as a trial run.  If I like it, I may continue to add to them...

My second promise was to have my Granny's Memory Square pattern available for you all this week...just please know that I am currently revising it and it is also under review by someone who knows more about writing patterns than me...I thank you for your patience! I wanted it to be checked first; by someone who knows what they are doing before sharing, just to ease my fears, before I actually do. I welcome all constructive criticisms in life...and am looking at this process as any other, as a learning experience. I also am looking forward to the final outcome...

The final promise was to share with you all, some of my mom's watercolor paintings...simply because I love them.. They may not seem like much to anyone else, but they mean the world to her; and she means the world to me, so I want to give her a special place where they are documented in photos. And you all will be able to share in this with me...Any tips and techniques you all know about that I can use?  I am all ears....We have decided to steer clear of any possible future problems arising from copyright usage from her practice pieces [derived from book lessons] and both agreed that the only works showcased will be her "Originals". Even though none will be for sale, the photos you eventually will see, are works of her own making... In honor of her 82nd birthday I will showcase each of them in the month of November....wish me luck!

©PDBKNCPLACE

In another past post, I was asking for comments and questions about the type of reading you all do and whether or not you still read children's literature...as a result of exploring this again, within the confines of my own attempt to catalog our collective books here, and from reading several other YOP participant blogs, I have discovered LIBRARY THING. For those of you who do NOT know what this site is about, it is a great way to catalog ALL your books virtually while still sorting them the way you like on the shelves at home...Which is another project that I am attempting currently...though I have a long way to go with this, I want you all to know that I am currently pricing the cost of custom built bookshelves because the collection is quite large and requires many of them...Anything other than custom built won't do....so this process has already begun...And no this project, is not on my 45 list, but it IS a labor of love; for my mom; just as the artwork cataloging project is...I am enjoying the processes of each, don't get me wrong, but again, I AM  doing it in addition to my other personal project choices from my Forty Five by 45 list...

Library Thing is a great site, I have 30+ books cataloged already and have joined two groups there...by accepting two challenges...The first is to work on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die List and group and a smaller Fifty Book Challenge group that will work hand in hand with the other.  I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas [think Shawshank Redemption, I giggle every time I hear his name.... tee hee]....and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Both novels were written very near in history together [at least during the same century] but both are very unique in characters, story and writing style. 

I also have a Pinterest board going for a few of the books I have that are on the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die List. I highly recommend, at the very least, checking out Library Thing just to see what all the buzz there is about, and if interested in joining up for either of these challenges,  you will find me on Library Thing as PinkDivaBrat. And on Pinterest I am Caroline Lewandowski. Hope to see you there! 

My Ravelry page continues to grow with new photos and projects...I still have more to add from current posts...and I still continue to add to stash on there...[don't think that will ever be done]!...Locating the yarn is not as easy as it looks....especially for some of my older yarns...Dreading when I have to add the yarns I inherited....yeah, I found some of the labels... but pix? Don't know how that will turn out yet...I am still kiko502 @ Ravelry...

UPDATE ON MY FORTY FIVE BY 45 LIST:

#6 - FINISHING MY TATW BEDSPREAD/AFGHAN - is slowly turning into just making new squares, I have had to stop the piecework as I ran out of finished pieces to put together on two of the colors...so I will only update how many new squares I get made, for now, on the actual list; and that isn't many since I began knitting for Xmas and birthdays. I already know this number on the list, will continue into the next block of time, at the end of this month.. #6....IN PROCESS....

#7 - Update my blog's design.....This has been completed, yet again...I hope you all are enjoying my new look as much as I am...I look forward to your comments and criticisms...#7....DONE!

#8 - Finish Yung's Beret - Ah! Here is the sweet spot of my update! I can honestly say that I think I have a chance to finish this one on time...I received my replacement parts and am already well into the body of the beret as I type. 

I had a bit of a slow down on the increase row which called for 64 make1's, making the initial cast on of 128 stitches, jump to 192...but after recounting several times and using my new Clover Mini Kacha Kacha stitch counter, I got through it successfully...I am not exactly pleased with the ribbing portion of the brim but I am not entirely displeased with it either,  I  am just okay with it and am looking forward to posting it as an FO by the end of the month. 

After 9 recasts with the original yarn choice, frogging it each time. Two more yarn changes and waiting for my new needles, I am happy to say, it's about darn time this project made me feel pleased as punch with the way it's turning out..the yarn choice, this time, is a Superwash Merino, Stroll Tonal [in Queen Anne colorway]...and the needles just zip through, and around it, quite effortlessly. Because I am using size 3 circs and dpns, the work is light and dreamy!........#8...IN PROCESS!

©PDBKNCPLACE

[NOTE:

I have even gotten past my fear of reading WHILE knitting because I can now FEEL the stitches through the needles, [does that make sense]?...and I haven't dropped one stitch yet, as I've worked it.  To me, [as someone who has always stopped to watch tv, rather than look away from my knitting], this is like jumping off the gangplank and a taking big step in my book. I am slowly gaining the confidence to just keep knitting, and not look down at it as I do, I grow bolder with each attempt. It is a way for me to get out of my comfort zone and explore my other faculties, that I so rarely have an opportunity to exercise..I know there are others like me out there, so listen up to you that are, let yourself go!...it's worth it!!!!]

#9 - Buy KnitPicks Interchangeable Needle Set - And what a glorious buy they are, very much proving to be a wonderfully smart decision...Silky smooth and a dream to use are just the icing on the cake! ..... # 9....DONE!

#10 - As posted in my YOP last week, I am taking #10 - Complete one Sewing Tutorial on my schedule - off the list for now...[I hope to put it back on when I am further along in my holiday and birthday knitting...the list will stand as thus.

My holiday knitting is coming along nicely, I must say, I even got my sisters birthday gift done on time, but getting it to her will of course, be late...I didn't have time to post it as I have had power outages to deal with as well as the handyman who visited yesterday, to paint my one bathroom and work on the electrical outlets that need replacing, he got to 6 of the 30 needing it..and called it a day. Tomorrow the carpet guy will be here to steam clean them...I have to finish picking up as much off the floor as possible, once I finish this post...#10....DELAYED...

 

I hope your week will be productive and I look forward to finishing everyone's updates. 

May those of you beginning Spring, enjoy it while it lasts, and for those of you just entering Fall, be sure to take advantage of what's left of the Season of Color...and for all of you, I hope you knit and crochet to your heart's content...preferably wrapped in coziness as our days get shorter and chillier....or in the warm sunshine of spring on a blanket spread out in a field of new green grass.

And as ever, may your universe continue to bless you all with its comforts and joys...

Pink Diva Brat