Eek! A Mouse!

After spending a couple weekends at James's apartment in New Hampshire and listening to his roommate's cat meow incessantly out of boredom, I decided to whip up a quick mousie toy for him to play with. It's mostly full of regular stuffing, with a little pinch of catnip for added intrigue. Check out Mr. Mouse's first encounter with Easy the cat. :)

Purple Socks, Finally!

I got this beautiful sock yarn at Building 19 1/2 like two years ago, because it was well-priced and lovely. But unfortunately there are precious few patterns for crocheted socks, so these pretty skeins sat under my bed for quite a while.

To my delight, the latest issue of crochetme.com has a crocheted sock pattern! I was so excited, and within two days I started making the first sock, below, with an E hook. So far it is looking more like a closed tube than a sock, but I'm getting close to the heel part, so I hope it will grow into its sock character soon! I know it's not that practical to start making socks right when the Boston weather is starting to feel like spring (at last!!), but I really couldn't resist. This is also my first experience with stitch markers (I'm using paper clips), and so far it's pretty convenient. I never realized how great it is not to have to physically count your stitches in the round. Wee! I can't wait till one is finished!

More Squares for Afghan

While I have been updating this craft blog only sporadically, my actual crocheting progress has been slow but steady! Check out some of the squares I've made recently for my 63-square afghan. I got a few of them done on our spring break road trip to Cincinnati (14 hours of driving each way!). For some reason, the last few squares came out like diamonds. I think I've been following the same convention as before, but several rows together give a slanty edge. I've been trying to pay more attention to guage for the squares, ever since I read that you can't block with acrylic yarn, and that's exactly what these are made of. My first ~10 squares are all different sizes, but maybe I'll just add wider borders to the smaller ones to even them out. I'm still hoping to make some attempt at blocking if not to just flatten them all out!

I always thought these flowers looked kind of old-lady-ish, but I really like the way this square came out!

Back In Business

Well I went on a kind of crafting hiatus during the month of January, as I devoted every brain cell to thinking about fluid flow and heat transfer. Happily, I passed my exams, and I am actively working to forget all that info I taught myself during those long hours of studying. And what better way to do that than to craft? I've started working again on my good old 64-square afghan, of which I have completed maybe a third of the required squares. Here are a few of my latest:I'm making more of an effort to pay attention to gauge, as many of my previous squares are varying sizes. But sometimes you don't realize the shrinkiness of your square until you're almost done, and by that time I don't have the patience to rip it all out and start again with a different hook. I'll make it all work in the end...

My latest sewing project was to make a curtain for the kitchen! It turned out pretty well, since I stuck with the tried and true (rectangle), but the lovely fabric brings a needed splash of color to our cold kitchen. I also made a matching potholder, which is a little crooked but still super awesome.

FO! Blanket for Baby Grant

Finally I have finished the baby blanket for Tara's newest son! His name is Grant, and he was born on December 14. That was the spark for me to begin crocheting at a more frantic pace to finish the blanket before I left home so that my bro Andrew could bring it to New York in January and deliver it to Tara and Joe. And woohoo, it's done!

One thing I learned was not to trust the "no dye lot" designation of the yarn. I used Bernat Softee Baby, and although it says "no dye lot" on the label, there are actually dates printed on the labels, and different dates are not the same! I didn't realize this until the blanket was half finished and it was way too late to remove the different yarn. What's even worse is that the yarn used in the middle section is actually a lighter weight, so the whole blanket width becomes narrower in the middle, and then widens out again at the next skein! That was super annoying, but I think overall the blanket still looks pretty sweet. The yarn for the blue border is my favorite. :)

Mr. Gobble-Gobble

Happy Turkey Day! I made this super awesome turkey (he looks cuter in person) at the request of my mom, from a pattern I found on BitterSweet, and it came out great! I hope he finds a comfy place to sit amongst my mom's holiday decor in San Diego. As for me, well, James and I are off to Connecticut for a 2-day thanksgiving partay with almost all of my Sri Lankan cousins! Yay!

The Days of Chivalry

Hark! Behold Sir Brave Knight who rides his white horse to befriend the fire-breathing dragon, in order to rescue the princess that the dragon holds captive due to his teenage crush on the lovely lady. Oh, these finger puppets were so much fun to make! I got the patterns from an old issue of CrochetMe. So far I haven't given them eyes, and the colors are a bit customized, but I think they turned out really well! Now I can branch out a bit and create some new characters to join these four. I'm hoping to give them to my cousins' little kids, who are between the ages of 2 and 5, whom I will see on Thanksgiving at the big Sri Lankan gathering at my aunt's house in Connecticut. Thanksgiving there is always guaranteed to be at least a couple days of madness, silly games, piles of food, tykes running around, and probably some loud singing and goofing. Can't wait!