Bible Cover!!!

Good evening!! I know its been a while since I have posted and I have worked up so many knits and still need to share pics. But first, I wanted to share a link to my VERY FIRST WRITTEN PATTERN up for sale on Ravelry. I am soooo excited!!! Its been a while in the making, but I finally published it with a lot of help and support from my crafty family!!! Thank you to all who take a look see!!!

You can find it for sale here: 

 Braid Cable Bible Cover 

Yarnin Update =o)

So, first I must update you on the Saroyan scarf that I was pulling my hair out with on the last blog post. Truth is I THOUGHT I had fought the beast and won, but truth is...it kicked my bootay. Nothing I did worked to keep the edge from curling backwards. So I gave up. Ugh. Oh well. So many other things to do...So I have made a couple things since.

First up we have a plus size white shrug I made for myself. I used the largest size on the pattern and ended up being too big. Ouch. Kinda makes a girl feel skinny. Lol Anyhow, I ended up crocheting a decrease on neckline in order to keep it from falling off the shoulders. I soaked it in conditioner and washed it so that the "roughness" would come out of the RedHeart yarn I used. It worked. Thank goodness. Many compliments when I wore it last so thats good. ;)

Next we have a new challenge to me: Crocodile stitch. And a challenge it was. I kept doing it wrong even tho it looked almost right. For some reason I couldnt figure out why my scales wouldnt lay down flat...they were wanting to almost flip up...it was because I was not coming in through the bottom of each "post". I finally figured it out as you will see in the pics:

This was my learning swatch....which I turned into a cute pillow for my daughter! 

She looks like she wants to take a nap with it right now, doesnt she? Cute!

Then, I had a place mat in the works. The idea was to make a set, but ummmm, that isnt going to happen. This one took forever to finish and the sewing part was obnoxious. If you know me well...you know that sewing and I are not on great terms. HA! *(Even though I really really want to learn how to use my "new to me" sewing machine that we just recently acquired) Anyhow, I think doing it by hand is like a love/hate thing and I am on the latter side. lol 

I decided to use it as a focal point for my table...but no, to making 3 more. 

Ok, so back to the Crocodile Stitch...most of you know that I am partial to knitting, but I really did fall in love with this crochet stitch! This is what I made once I tackled this challenge. 

I was wondering what kind of handle to make in order for it to be sturdy enough and it was suggested to me to make 3 I-Cords and braid them...so that is just what I did. I knotted it for the pic, but it is long enough to use bag messenger style. The pic below shows the fabric I found to line it. I havent lined it just yet cuz I tend to procrastinate big time when it comes to sewing...yadayadayada.  Oh well...its coming up soon. =o) Promise! 

Ok, and last but not least, we have the Vortex Shawl I just finished and pinned on my bed today! I am pretty thrilled with this lacework! As you can see in the first pic, I did not have enough room to wet block this on my kitchen table...nor did I have enough blocking boards....guess I need to invest in another set.

  After much fiddling around, I finally got it blocked out on my bed. I fixed the left bottom side once I saw in the pic it looked a lil "off"...A lot of tweaking to get it just right. Now, I just hope it dries before bedtime!!

OK, well, thats it for now...I need to get that bag lined and probably work on my 10 Stitch Blanket some more...but what next? So many ideas, so little time, eh? =p

Lovely Scarf, Dreaded Curl...

Good Morning!! I decided on a whim to add a blog post today! Now, bare with me as I havent had my coffee yet. (working on it now) If you follow me on Facebook you probably have been reading up on my current dilemma...the dreaded CURL!! =( Upon some research, I have found that the reason Garter borders do not do the trick in keeping stockinette from curling most of the time is due to the size of the stitches. The st st is a tall rectangle while the garter is a shorter stitch and it pulls in on itself. Errrrrgh! Right? Well, I will share a pic of the scarf I finished, Wet Blocked, and Steam Blocked....and still a major CURL.....grrrrrr. 

 Its still very lovely, but I was not able to block out the curl after a couple days....and I gave up trying...

 

Even while I was knitting this lovely and OH SO SOFT scarf, I knew I wanted to give it a go in a solid color. So I searched my hoard of yarn and found the perfect flattering peach color and gave it a go. 

I knew it was going to curl again, so I drove myself crazy trying to prevent it...I tried seed stitch border, I tried to slip the first stitch of the stockinette (right after border), I tried to work a short row in the border, and I even tried garter stitch all the way through to the leaves part of the pattern (I am not super fond of the garter stitch to begin with, so that wasnt going to work for me.) 

 (seed stitch w/ short rows)

 (garter all the way through)

 So, AT LAST, I found a SOLUTION!!! 

 A solution to my headache... I decided to try one of the suggestions in my online search... (in larger pic) I believe we have a winner!! Instead try: k2,yo,k2tog,k1 to create an eyelet of sorts. Now, why didn't I think of that? Cuz even after all these years I still consider myself a newb and am proud of it! There is so much to learn and I'm ever grateful for that...because if I knew everything, it could get boring real quick. #funponderingthoughts