Crochet Mood Blanket 2014...Are you in??

I was scrolling through Instagram a few days ago, as I often do. (I could easily give up facebook but never Instagram. I'm a visual addict.) When I happened upon several hooker friends who said they were doing a Crochet Mood Blanket 2014. Ever nosy, I had to investigate. Turns out a lovely Instagrammer http://instagram.com/mummy_stacey# was inspired to start a mood blanket. What is this trippy idea you ask? Well, apparently you choose colors and assign moods to them. Decide to do 52 or 365 squares and do one square per week/day that corresponds to your mood!! Easy as pie! Many people are doing the join as you go method from Attic 24 as her blanket was the inspiration for this project I believe.

There is now a facebook group and ravelry group for this project! I'm very excited about this as I have finally pared down my WIP box to just a few projects! I can easily knock out a square a day or a couple a day if  lose track. I'll be keeping a journal with a calendar to write down mood so I don't lose track should I not be able to join them every day.

I am looking forward to seeing how my moods play out through out the year and I hope you'll join me!





Happy Hooking!!!

~~Amy

I Am Alive....

PHEW. Sorry I went MIA. First I went back to work (which should be ending soon!) and then we had good ol' Hurricane Isaac wreck havoc on us for a week or so. But we are back home, getting life back together. I have a lot of catching up to do at work, in the business and at home but we're here, safe and sound!

What's new in Mama World? Well, first off, HOW did it get to be SEPTEMBER?? I mean, whaaaat?

Secondly, YEAH ITS SEPTEMBER! That means cooler weather is coming, football and Thanksgiving is just two months away!! I love fall, however short it is here!

I've been trying to create at night after the day job is done, the kids are in bed and the man is occupied. I had hoped to be plunging full on into my business when school started, but this temporary job came up. I knew they needed my help and hey, who doesn't want a few extra coins? :)

So I've been crocheting at night, and FINALLY finished the Mario Granny Square blanket! It's so cute. I still have to edge it and back it with a cotton. Oh and tie off a gazillion strings...

Yes, each "pixel" is one 4 inch granny square. Yes, I am insane, thank you.

I also made this cute little weenie dog. The lovely Scotti at Inner Hooker found it and we could NOT find the pattern anywhere. (Though we truly wish the creator had written one, we SO would've bought it.) So I dabbled a bit with existing amigurumi patterns and came up with Andrew, the Weenie Dog :)

I'm tweaking the pattern more and making it easier and more consistent and working on that, slowly, surely.

I also finished up a pillow cover based on the Summer Garden pattern from Lucy of Attic24. It's lovely and is a great late summer addition to my house :)

What have you been up to? Make sure you do something every day that makes you smile!

~~Amy

Finish It Friday

Finished up the buttermint cowl!!

I also finished up a little jar cozy for pens/pencils for my temporary work desk :)

Have you finished up anything fun lately??

~~Amy

WIP Wednesday

I finally picked back up this Mario blanket. I started it a year ago, and am finally picking it back up, as much as I now dislike Red Heart yarn, that's what I started it with.

This is what 142 granny squares looks like. Only blue and yellow is left. Hopefully I can actually finish it before winter....

as Mario says... "here we go!"

WIP Wednesday and Back to School

TODAY IS BACK TO SCHOOL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL!! No, not just because I get the awesomeness of peace and quiet for several hours each day to do my work, clean, cook and just frolic through my home without being followed by "Hey, Mom!" But I love the newness of back to school. The possibility of learning, meeting new friends, their stinking cute back to school picture with their little backpack. New hair cuts, new shoes, the predictable routine of school. I love it. Thankfully, my boys love school and their elementary is awesome. I try to stay active in the school and PTA, because I believe you cannot complain about your child's school if you don't bother to get involved. But yes, I love the ME time. I get to focus on my work, keeping home and solitude. As much of a people person that I am, I relish my alone time. I choose what's on TV. Crank up my music. Eat lunch without interruptions... USE THE BATHROOM ALONE!!! It's a beautiful thing. So I hope to have a LOT of WIP's to show you now!! :) But honestly, my best, BEST works in progress are these two little boys. They are my most important work, and even though they can drive me nuts, have their issues, I feel they're not too shabby for  my first times :)

Well, when I originally pre-wrote this post I was all ready to enjoy the peace and quiet of back to school. Then I got a phone call asking me to fill in a temporary position at the preschool my little one just got into! (I have worked there on and off since 2001). I said yes, and will start work on the same day my oldest starts school!!! So no relaxing morning coffee for me! I shall enjoy it driving to work! There will be a lot of organizing, daycare shuffling, lunch making, etc that I'm not used to but I'll find my stride.

If it's one thing I've learned, life is always changing and you have to be ready for it! Wake up, do what you need to do, smile, laugh, enjoy and repeat!

~~Amy

WIP Wednesday

This week's WIP is another version of the cowl from Frayed Knot...I loved it and had to try it in my favorite yarn EVER...Chroma by Knit Picks. I had some of this one left and am giving it a go :)

Isn't that yarn yummy??? I seriously could just fondle Chroma all day long....

WIP Wednesday

I always have WIP's around here. Since I do blog ahead, I admit these pics may be behind and may no longer be WIP's (Works in Progress)....but anyhoo, its gratuituous shots of yarn and fabric or home projects, so roll with it.

Last week's WIP was the lovely cowl from Frayed Knot. It was beautiful. I have to make some adaptations for my next one because I don't like a lot around my neck, and I live in Louisiana, so a light weight yarn is better, but I had to try with this awesome blue yarn I snagged on clearance. (Deborah Norville "Lagoon".) You can get the pattern for the cowl in her Shop.

And it's finished!!

I'm a sucker for shell stitches and flowers...I love it. I'm thinking it'd make a great blanket pattern too!!
~~Amy

What's On the Hook?

What's on the hook lately?

I'm trying to decide what pattern to use for a blanket. I love both patterns, but cannot decide!

There is the sunburst granny pattern, which is larger, and more texturally fun.

and the Summer Garden pattern from the fabulous Lucy of Attic 24.
This one is smaller and quicker. I can't decide!

And I love this color scheme, so I'm working on a standard granny square baby blanket in the same colors :)

I'm continuing to work on granny stripe blankets and shawls, as well as the Washed Ashore afghan.

I hope you're creating something fun!!
~~Amy

Letting Go.....of the yarn

I suspect I'm not alone in this. You know who you are....my friends. The crafters. The hobbyists. The handmade artisans. Whatever you want to call yourself. You can often be found with yarn/fabric scraps/glitter/hotglue/paint or any other medium stuck to various body parts. The people at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Hancocks, Joanns, AC Moore all know your name. You chat about life. You go to their children's bar mitvahs. 

You are a craft addict. You love it. You can not STOP it. You have told your family to go eat cereal for dinner so you can finish the scarf. You have occasionally lost track of the baby only to find her under a table on the fabric piles. Your children refer to the UPS truck as the fabric truck. You bribe your children with the promise of toys if they'll just be good while you look for yarn. (These are purely imaginative ideas, not reflections of my own home. Ahem. Right.)

You invest in your projects. You love them. Sometimes you mourn them being sold or given away. You are willing to buy cheaper food and give up wine if it means you can buy designer fabric. Okay, maybe not wine, but brand name products, hair cuts or sodas are all up for budget cuts if it means more supplies.

We love our supplies, our projects, our crafty friends, the websites that allow us to pretend we are being productive (Pinterest I'm talking to you.). 

But sometimes....sometimes...there are projects you just fall out of love with. Sometimes there are reasons why, sometimes there aren't. 

My current 'faded' project is a Mario Bros. Granny Square blanket. It's awesome, obviously because A) it's yarn and B) its Mario. However, it keeps getting bumped down the to-do list. Why?

1.) My child is no longer obsessed with Mario. He's on a Star Wars kick. As this makes his father incredibly happy, we're cultivating it.

2.) I'm easily distractable and need to have 4-5 projects at once. I just keep finding ones I want to do more.

3.) I don't like the yarn I'm using. This is probably the most pressing issue. Because it's a blanket for my child, I was using Red Heart yarn, the herpes of yarns. (Sorry if you love Red Heart..other than Red Heart Soft I find it all to be too hard, sticky, and not smooth to work with.) I started it before I learned more about yarn. My general "budget" yarn of choice is "I Love This Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. It's soft, workable, doesn't split and is reasonably priced for those 'going to beat the hell out of it' projects. 

So now that I've already done over 100 4 inch red granny squares and over 50 4 inch brown granny squares for Mario out of Red Heart yarn, I'm invested. I can't suddenly switch to ILTY, because then the blanket will feel weird. I've got to finish it out in RH yarn. But because I don't like the feel of the yarn in my fingers....I keep putting it off.

I suspect I'm not alone, as I said. I bet many of you start projects with grandiose visions and for whatever reason, cannot finish it. Or don't want to finish it. This makes me feel better, that I'm not alone.

I will probably finish Mario one day. My best friend's sons love Mario. My dilemma then is, two boys..one blanket..they're going to want another one....shudder.

So what do you have half done, frogged, put aside that you cannot seem to complete? And why??

You're not alone...it's okay...we're all craft addicts here, we can talk about it... share.

~~Amy

What's On the Hook?

Life has been busy here in the Monkey House. I've been busy getting orders out (thank you all!), dealing with family stuff, breaking up fights between the kids, and trying to set up the new home for Mama's Little Monkeys.

I've also been busy crocheting! Yarn, it's my new addiction! So here's what's on the hook this week:

Infinity scarf for my niece. (excuse the horrid photos...it was nighttime, so my natural sunlight was sleeping on the job..)

Scalloped leg warmers for a friend who's starting Roller Derby. She may be in season TWO before I finish them, but here's the start!! :)

So that's what I'm hooking this week, I'm sure I'll chain up something else too :)

Now time to hit the hay and zzzzzzzzzzzzz as my monkeys are wearing me out this week!~~
Amy