A Long-Awaited Finish

So with all the craftiness (and crazyness) going on around here, I managed to finish an old WIP from like, 3 years ago. Finally! Forever and ever ago, I made a filet crochet pillow cover to go with an afghan out of really pretty Red Heart yarn. Then I bought some green fabric to make the pillow out of, stuffed it in the closet, and left it there until it made it's way to the new house with me.


I've changed color schemes in my bedroom since then, as you can see, so the green fabric had to go. When I dug the pillowcase out last weekend, I picked out some pretty pink fabric instead. The pillow was super easy, I finished it in one night. (For me this is a big deal. I'm not good at sewing and I'm very slow.)

Now I have a really pretty pillow for my bed. The picture doesn't do it justice.

It looks good, even though I'm a little disappointed that the pink pillow inside came out so small. Maybe I should have done more measuring and less guesstimating when I sewed it, but I use my novice sewing status as an excuse for my slightly off-kilter projects. I still like it, and that's all that matters, right?

I'm really using crafting to get through this mini-bout of depression. Sometimes it just feels like everything is falling in on your head, ya know? I'm crocheting and planning projects and finishing projects like mad to keep my mind of other things. Cheap therapy, is there anything better?

Up In Flames

I have another crappy day to tell you about. This is getting old, y'all. But I think today's story is worth telling. So, my car, a really pretty green Dodge Intrepid, has been being worked on for a long while. Today it ran for the first time in a long time. She ran good. And then, she blew up. Literally, the gas line came off of the back of the motor, touched the hot exhaust, and blew up. This is what my pretty Intrepid looks like now:


And the backseat:


The fire ravaged everything, but luckily, the guys working on the car got out of the way in time and no one was hurt. The local rinky-dink fire department came and put it out, and then someone thought to call me. So I missed the whole thing. All that's left of my car are the two front seats, and a bunch of dash pieces. They were being stored in another car. (I'm thinking about auctioning them on E-Bay, whadya think?)
How sucky is that? I still owe on the car, and since it was immobile, I had no insurance on it. So I'm stuck paying it off on my own. And I have to find a different car. Quickly, on limited funds. Can anyone say screwed?
I'm fighting the urge to hide under my bedcovers and cry really, really hard. I'm also using crochet as therapy, hooking away furiously to try and take my mind off everything going on around me. I'm afraid of what might happen when I'm forced to put the hook down to cook supper.

Rock and Roll Rules!

I had a crappy day. Nothing particularly bad happened, it was just a crappy day. Everyone has them I guess. But there was one bright spot in my day. Pointfest is back on! Yay! I'm so excited, the band list is great. Staind, Blue October, Evans Blue, Hurt, and more. I can't wait. This concert is going to be one of the best birthday presents ever (my sis bought the tickets for me for my birthday). Did I mention that I can't wait? Cuz I can't wait!

Crazy Graduation Blanket

I live in a crazy neighborhood. I have crazy, goofy neighbors. I have photographic proof that I have crazy, goofy neighbors. Witness:


That's Jared, from up the street. He asked me to make him a blanket, so I made this crazy granny square out of scraps, and begifted it to him for his junior high graduation. We just now got around to taking pictures, and in typical Jared fashion, he had to pose. Show Jared some love, people.

Here's a closeup. This one is pretty true to the actual colors. There are the ends of many balls of yarn all in this one blanket, and I'm really proud of it cuz it took forever. From the photo, Jared seems to like it too.

Treasure, Mateys!

I am so excited! My long lost copy of Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman has been found! I went looking for it on a whim and it turns out, it was in my neighbor's bedside table! It's like finding a hidden treasure. I trotted home with it and looked through the whole thing like it was the very first time. YAY! I'm eyeing one of the sweaters in particular, must search for proper yarn. Another shirt, maybe? The inspiration just keeps coming!

New Shirt Possibility

Since I've been back on the net, I've spent a lot of time looking at posts at Craftster, quietly admiring other crafty folks' work. There are so many creative, talented people who post their stuff on the forum. And lots of those people include tutorials. Perfect! In the back of my mind, subconsciously even, I was looking for a shirt that my sewing-challenged hands could actually master. I think I've finally found it. Check out the thread for "The Fastest Shirt in the West". I think even I may be able to handle this shirt, so now I just have to dig through some fabric and pick something out. There is lots of room for interpretation. Could it be that my creativity is coming back with a bang?

Sunnier Days?

My birthday turned out to be not so bad after all. I spent most of the day sleeping, a welcome break from the normal chaos around here. And my sweetie sent me the most beautiful roses. So it was an uneventful but quiet birthday. Today I don't feel so sick and the sun is shining, I guess things are looking up.

I'm running with the good feelings today, so I'm finally gonna post some of the pics that I've promised. First up, the big mystery project for Laynie's birthday:




It's You're Gonna Catch Flies, from the summer 2006 issue of Crochet Me. (Sorry my pics aren't the greatest, I'm still perfecting my skills with my crappy digital camera.) I finished the frog and five flies in less than a week, in plenty of time for Laynie's birthday party. It was very easy, and it's very cute. I'm still not sure if Laynie likes it, though.

While I had the camera out I snapped a pic of Laynie's blanket from her last birthday. Here it is, in all it's blindingly neon glory. She loves it, but refused to take a picture with it, of course.


The blanket has worn really well over the last year, I hope that it will last to keep Laynie warm for years to come, on sunny days and rainy days alike.

I have a couple other things I'm working on, more to come on those later!

I Feel Icky

My birthday is tomorrow. I was really excited about it. But this week has sucked big time. And now I'm sick, and the concert my sister was taking me to for a present probably isn't gonna happen because we have no ride. (The concert is POINTFEST by the way, awesome band list.) I'm so disappointed that we might miss it. This birthday is gonna suck. I need some positive vibes, people. BAD.

Happy Birthday, Laynie!

Tuesday was Delaynie's big 2nd birthday party, and we had a blast. Cake, presents, and a cupcake fight. A word of caution: green buttercream icing is NOT good for new contacts. How do I know this? Because I had a chunk of that lovely Over the Hedge cupcake-cake smeared in my face. That really livened the party up! Everyone had a great time, even though Laynie really only paid attention when it was time for her to unwrap her presents. And maybe the cupcakes?

Sheer Black Paisley

I spread the pretty black fabric over the silky pink stuff so the pattern would show. By itself, it's very sheer. I think it'll look good with something under it or by itself for a sexier look.

 

New Fabric Stash!

A trip to Wal-Mart simply is not complete without a stop by the craft section, yarn and fabric in particular. I went to buy bikes for Laynie and Kassi and came home with this too:


Yay! New fabric stash! I love the clearance fabric bin at Wal-Mart, sometimes they have some really pretty stuff for only $1 a yard. How can you pass that up? Everything you see here cost less than $10 total, including the thread. Sweet! It's all very pretty, especially the black on the lower right. You can't tell but it's sheer with a sort of paisley pattern on it. I know I want to make a couple shirts out of it, but the rest is up in the air still. Guess we'll have to see, my sewing skills are right next to zilch, so I would love to find time to practice and improve. This fabric should be great inspiration! 

A Quickie for the 4th

I noticed last night while looking through some of my old posts that I never got the chance to post pictures of Laynie's finished Birthday Blanket last year. Laynie's birthday is Tuesday, people. I'm a whole year behind. I have a secret project going for her birthday this year, very small and quick since I just started. I'll reveal the mystery project, with pics, when I finish it. Knowing how I procrastinate, that'll be Monday night. I'll also post pics of the birthday girl with her blankie from last year. Happy 4th!

I'm Ba-ack!

Hey everybody! I'm finally hooked back up to this wondrous thing known as "the Internet" and I couldn't be happier about it. It's been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog but I hope to fill it with new pictures and stories about my life. My VERY different life. A lot of things have changed for me since the last time I wrote something here. I'm divorced, I have an apartment with Kassi and Laynie, and I'm living life the best I can on my own. It's a new experience for me, this living life on my own thing. I got married straight out of high school, so I never went through the experience of getting my first apartment by myself. I always had my hubbie there. Now hubbie is ex-hubbie and the girls and I live about 5 blocks from our old house, in a small but cute 2 bedroom apartment. We're making out OK. It gets easier as time goes by, but I still have moments where I miss my old life, the life I use to write about here. But the things that I have carried over from that time to now, such as my beautiful girls and my crocheting, help to keep me going and remind me that no matter how much changes, some things are always the same. Now that I'm back, I'll be updating all the time, sharing my life, the girls, my crocheting, and whatever else I can think of with all of you. Have a safe and happy 4th!