What We've Been Up To As of Late

Hello again. 246 news update for this past week:

• Mr. 246 has started training his mustache to be a curly cue type mustache. (I don't know the proper term for it.) He's been growing out his hair since October. When your employer is a 6 month old baby, they don't really get picky about what kind of crazy you look like. Haha.
• I've been letting Boo Radley sleep in our bed again the past couple nights. We trained him to sleep on the couch in the living room before Luna was born because we knew she'd be in the bed from time to time in the middle of the night and Boo can get snappy when he's tired. Luna's been very good about sleeping through the night though and Boo is just so gosh darn cuddly. It's been so cold lately it's been nice to cuddle up with him. He sleeps with me like a little teddy bear.
• This happened about a week ago, but I think it's really neat -- Luna can work a zipper! What kind of 6 month old does that?! Whenever I'm wearing my zip-up hoodie she will take her little pointer finger, put it in the hole of the zipper pull and pull it down. Repeatedly. So neat. She's amazing.
• I've been quite busy crafting but I don't have too many finished results. I've been working on a couple large projects that will take a little while. I did manage to finish two things, though:

Matching hats for Luna and I! I just loved the yarn and I didn't know what to do with it so I decided on the old stand-by: ear flap hat. My ear flaps are a little mismatched. That's what I get for no actual pattern, and no counting. Haha. Luna's was made with this pattern. I just kind of adapted it for big people size.

One of our Christmas boxes came this past week (We got so much stuff in Ohio over Christmas we had to ship a lot of our gifts home.) Included in this Christmas box was a bunch of yarn that Mr. 246's sister had gotten me: (I noticed that I have red, pink, and white in there and I have plans to make Luna a Valentine's Hat)

Had to make something with it, didn't I? I came across this pattern for crocheted glove mittens and decided to give it a try. (Go here if you're on Ravelry for better pictures.)

I think I'd like to tweak the pattern and use a smaller gauge yarn. I don't know if I want to finish the glove or not. It fits snug, but crochet always stretches after a bit anyways. At least I think so. I don't know if I want to finish it because I think I could make it better. I think the fingers need to be longer and I need to pay better attention to counting my stitches.

And, for my crafting crowning joy this week. Here's what I've got so far on the quilt I'm making. 5 rows done! I had done the rows done and I couldn't wait to sew them together to see what they'd look like.

I decided against the "random" pattern of colors. I started laying it out and it didn't look quite right. I started laying it out with diagonals and loved it instantly. So there we go!  Granted, lots of the corners don't match up, but they're pretty darn close. And a lot of them are surprisingly spot on.

I don't know if I'll finish it in quite a while though. There is a Mini Art Quilt Swap I joined and send out is by 2/22/13. I have a pretty good idea what I'm going to do, but I think I need to practice some techniques first so it might take me a while and some of my crafting time. I can't exactly say what I'm up to since this is a public blog, she may be reading this and I'd like it to be a surprise!

Anyways, that's about it for now. I'm off to have a lazy Sunday afternoon. My favorite! Can't decide whether to nap, crochet and watch something, or read. Hmmm...decisions.

- Ms. 246

50 Projects in 2012 (Part TWO!)

Alright folks, I'm back. The countdown to 50 projects for 2012 continues...25 more. I haven't counted in advance, but I'm trying to see if I can or have already hit 50 craft projects for 2012. Read more about it and see the first 25 projects in this post. Let's get back to it...

#26: Baby crib quilt - Purple border, yellow background
#27: Baby crib quilt - Pink border, orange background
(Again, I apologize for the crappy picture.)

Does a pinterest fail count? If so...
#28: "Rainbow Sugar Cookies" These things made me resort to drinking with how horribly it all turned out. Every time I go to bake I seem to forget that I can't stand baking.

#29: Tie-Dye Onesies - I made a couple, some others were made by friends for my baby shower.

#30: Re-Upholstered dining room chairs. Mr. 246 helped with these. They were originally that brown swede and we chose a green/yellow swirly pattern. So freaking easy. I may have to change them again and again.

#31: Crocheted squares for Knit-A-Square charity project. An organization sews them all together to make blankets for AIDS orphans in Africa. Inspired to make these due to the S.P.E.W. (HP Charity Crafting) craftalong on Craftster.

#32: Small Cuddle Texture Blanket out of a scrap I had. Sewed it all up nice for Lunabeaners.

#33: Another S.P.E.W. Project. This one was for Snuggles. You make soft snuggly blankies for shelter animals. :( The way that this lady feels about cats is how I feel about shelter dogs.)  It's a double-stranded crocheted mini blanket. I think it's about 30x30 inches.

Another shot at the blankets brings us...
#34: The second blanket in the pile is a blanket for Lunabean. (I had originally gotten the fabric on clearance to make blankies for the doggies, but it was so lovely and Luna liked it a lot so I made her one as well.)
#35: The "snuggle" on the bottom of the pile is for the Snuggle project as well.

#36: Set of "Defense Against the Dark Arts" HP ornaments made for the "Back to Hogwarts 3" swap on Craftster. They include (from left to right kind of):  A boggart trunk with a boggart of my partners worst fear - losing control, Mad-Eye Moody (Mr. 246 helped since unless I have therapy before hand I cannot work with clay), a set of three mini chalkboards with lessons on the Unforgivable Curses, in the back there are two DADA textbooks, a small Scabbers in the middle, two hand painted, decoupaged Prof. Umbridge kitty plates, set of three "In case of dementor attack" chocolates.

#37: Another project for the "Back to Hogwarts 3" Swap based on my partners favorite store - Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

#38: We nicknamed these "Jackson Pollock's Balls", but they're really Oreo Truffles. Quite delicious but also quite decadent. You definitely can't eat a lot of these.

 

#39: Crocheted Owl Bag - Made for my pseudo niece (my brother's girlfriend's child) since she was starting kindergarten (and it was her birthday). Her mommy said she loved it and was carrying around socks in it. Yea....I don't know. Haha.

#40: Crocheted Infinity Scarf: Modeled by Mr. 246 who now wants one of his own. ("Is this a girl thing? Can guys wear cowls?" "I think so!") Based on a pattern I found on Ravelry which I can't find again at the moment.

#41: Tiny Pumpkin - Made just yesterday in honor of Halloween.

#42: Chalkboard Calender - We are lost without this calender. It's kind of fun 'cause I get to decorate every month.

#43: Moon and Stars Baby Hat - Followed directions for a newborn size and unfortunately it never fit.

#44: Ear-flap Baby Hat - mentioned in previous post

#45: Slouchy Crochet Hat - not pictured. Made for a friend for her birthday and I forgot to take a picture.

Whew...so I've made it to 45! I'm impressed. There's probably a thing or two I'm forgetting, but I'm still impressed. I have a couple long-term projects that I work on from time to time - a granny square blanket which I work on when I have nothing else to work on. Here's a sneak peak (sorry for the picture quality, it's from my phone):

It's got about another half row currently. I know it doesn't look terribly wide, but once it's done (It's going to be 12 squares x 12 squares) I'm going to made a pretty wide border. 

The other in progress project I'm working on is my Harry Potter quilt. I'm following the pattern here from HP Paper Piecing. I must admit, though, since Luna's been born I haven't broken out the sewing machine too much. I don't have a designated spot to sew so I just set up at the dining room table. When I do paper piecing there's a bit more involved because you have to iron so much and it's just a big production I feel like. I can't wait for the day I have a craft room.

Well, I think I can make 5 finished projects by the end of the year. I'll update as I go. Then I get to start planning crafts for next year. First I must get through the holidays. (I finally feel like an adult because I am somewhat dreading the holidays. Not enough time to get things done, we have to travel with an infant, there's too much to fit in in too little time. It's just forced. I'm dreaming of a relaxing Christmas, but I have a feeling it won't happen this year. Anyway, this topic can fill a whole other post. I'm just being a Scrooge about Christmas today. Hehe.)

Thanks for looking!

Kindest Regards,

Ms. 246