Penelope Shawl

My Penelope Shawl is finished and blocked!

I love it!  It's big, soft, lacy, and the colors of my sweet kitty, Penelope.

I love the little bits of pink....the same color of Penelope's cute little nose and toes.  The gray and white are the colors of her soft and pretty fur.

I love how long and large it is!

Penelope hung out with me while I blocked it.  She was "helping".  ;-)

I used the Mock Faroese Shawl pattern by Lily chin and a size J crochet hook.  The yarn is from Inner Yarn Zen but I'm not sure how many yards I had or used.  The yarn is super soft and oh so pretty!

Yay!  One more project finished and off my to-do list!  :-)

Cotton Candy Shawl

I just finished crocheting a shawl that's pink, fluffy, and light like cotton candy.

It's so delicate and pretty!  Here it is worn bandanna style...

And, a more traditional shawl style...

So light and airy.

I used the South Bay Shawlette pattern that I've used many times.

The mohair in the Crystal Palace Kid Merino yarn transforms it and creates a very different look.

I used a size "G" crochet hook.  Crocheting with this yarn was a challenge whenever I had to rip back.  The yarn tends to lock itself together and pulling stitches out sometimes seems impossible.

I had to rip back a few times because of silly mistakes.  I was worried a couple of times that I wouldn't be able to pull it back to the mistake.  Luckily, I was able to...with lots of patience.

This was a fun project because of the results and that I was able to de-stash two balls of yarn!

However, I won't want to wear it because of the mohair.  It's a little itchy to me.

So, I will need to find a home for this beauty.  If anyone is interested in buying this, let me know.

I won't be charging much for it.  I'd just like to find someone who will enjoy it.  :-)

Busy, Happy Life!

Life has been full and busy and wonderful around here!  I'd love to blog more about it but much of what's been going on has been busy-ness and preparations.  That's not always blog worthy.

However, some of the things we've been working on are definitely blog worthy.

One of those things occurred last weekend...my daughter's junior harp recital.

She's been working for over a year on some of the pieces she performed.

And, we've been working for months on the details.

It took place on Saturday evening in a recital hall of the university she attends.

She did a spectacular job!  Her many, many hours of hard work and practice made her shine.

I was so happy for her about how it turned out and so proud of her.

She's never performed better or looked more beautiful!

The event was recorded and she's hoping to post it on YouTube

for everyone to see who wasn't able to attend.  I'll be sure to post a link when it's up.

I've been keeping up on my minimum five days per week workouts of running.

It gets tough sometimes and I've thought about figuring out another short term incentive

but my pace time improved this week and that feels really good.

I'm trying to keep with regular weight workouts too of at least once or twice a week.

And, whenever possible, I like to break it up with something different and extra fun like a hike or

bike ride.  Hubby and I went mountain biking on Valentine's Day morning.  :-)

Speaking of Valentine's Day....look what my sweet hubby gave me....

I was so excited when I opened the box!  I fell in love with this belt at Boot Barn last November.

Hubby and I were doing some boot shopping there a few weeks ago and I showed it to him and oogled over it.  He went back a couple days later and got the very last one...

which happened to be my size.  I'm normally not a glitzy type of person but I love this!

I think it's so pretty!  Hubby and I go line dancing sometimes and I think it'll be perfect for that.

I can't wait to wear it out on the town!  :-D

For those of you who've been following my blog and wondering how my husband's grandparents are doing....they're doing great!  Grandpa was moved to a place that could assist in his care around the clock.  He celebrated his 94th birthday while he was there.  He told us that he had a gift for all of us...that he was going to walk.  And, he did!  Here he is walking down the hall to his party...

He had lost so much weight that his pants weren't staying up.

So, my father-in-law held them up for him and stayed close by in case he needed assistance.

Amazing!  He hadn't walked in at least a month and we almost lost him weeks earlier.

He hadn't been eating much for weeks and weeks.  It was amazing that he survived that!

He literally lived off very little bits of juice and "Muscle Milk".  He had refused to eat.

But, just before his party, he had started eating a little bit of real food.

Some of his favorite foods were brought to the party and he couldn't wait to dig in.

He had a piece of shrimp cocktail in his hand before he was completely scooted up to the table!

He had some of my mother-in-law/his daughter's famous marinated mushrooms too.

And, of course, he had to have a beer!  He was one happy Grandpa!

Here's Grandpa and Grandma together that day.

Such an inspiring couple.  Married about 72 years and still very much in love.

They decided they needed to move closer to the family and bought a house here.

We got grandma moved in and that inspired grandpa so much that within a week he improved enough to go home!  Since then, he's gained over 20 pounds back and is feeling better and better.

I accomplished something this week that's been on my to-do list for a while.

I studied the California handgun safety booklet on Monday and took the test.

I got every single answer right...100%...and now have my handgun safety certificate!  Woot!

I've shot rifles before...even did some biathlons years ago.  That was SO much fun!

They weren't the cross country skiing type...they were run, shoot, run shoot, run.

We live in Southern California and there's not a lot of snow around here.

I wish they still had those races!  Anyway, I've been thinking it's time to get a handgun.

So, now I'm legal to buy one.  I plan to learn a lot about it and start going to a local shooting range.

I've been doing more knitting and crocheting lately.  Yay!  I finally found some patterns that I like.

I posted the mohair shawl last week.  I started knitting a hat too.  I'll post more about it when it's big enough to get a good look at it (it's made with sock yarn and size 2 needles...so, it takes a while).

I've been working on some other exciting stuff and I'll post about it when I can.

Just one more week to enter my Grow Your Blog Party give-away.  How's the party been going for you?  My blog following grew a lot last year from the party but has hardly grown at all this year.

But, it's been fun to visit lots of blogs and hear from lots of new people.  :-)  The give-away is still on...every comment posted on my blog (comments left on Facebook don't count) for the month of February and every follower will be entered to win.  There's about a week left.

I'll pick a winner on March first!  :-)

Pretty Pink Cloud

I've been eager to start a new crochet project.  I've been going through my stash and patterns, trying to find a perfect match that I'm excited about making.  I've tried a few different yarns and patterns but haven't been happy with any of them.  During another sleepless night last night, I got up and searched Ravelry again.  I decided to look through some of the projects of another Raveler who's talent and projects I admire.  It paid off!  She'd made a South Bay Shawlette with a fine and fuzzy yarn and the results were gorgeous.  Turns out I have some beautiful pink mohair just waiting to be used.  I pulled it out this morning and got started.  It was love at first sight!

Check out this pink, fuzzy, angelic, lacy cloud of wonderfulness...

I'm using a "G" size crochet hook and Crystal Palace Kid Merino yarn.

I've made a LOT of shawls with this pattern but with this yarn it has a totally new look.

I'm having so much fun with this!

Diamond Flowers Shawl

My Diamond Flowers shawl is done!

It's crocheted with just over three skeins (about 800 total yards) of Spud & Chloe Fine Sock Yarn.

It's 80% superwash wool and 20% silk.  I would expect it to be soft because of the silk.

However, it really isn't very soft at all.  And, washing it didn't seem to help.  

In fact, it seems a little less soft and even a bit scritchy after washing and blocking.  Hmmm?

I sure love the color though.

I crocheted it with the recommended hook size of "I".

That gave it a light, open, airy look.

This is one of my favorite colors.  Look!...it matches my favorite pair of earrings!

I think I'll find lots of things to wear it with.

Here's one idea...a pair of jeans and a white shirt.

I think it would look cute with short sleeves, a tank top or a dress too.

The finished size of 26" wide by 76" long will give it lots of versatility.

Overall, I like the shawl and the pattern was easy to understand. 

It has a regular pattern and chart for a skinny/scarf size and an enlarged/customize-able/shawl size.

I did the enlarged size with 96 stitches to start.

The only problem I had was making silly mistakes (often) that I didn't notice

until rows later.  The mistakes are hard to spot sometimes because the openness of it.

At one point, I missed a mistake and didn't catch it until I was on the last row.

I had to rip back an entire skein and then some to fix it.  Ugh!

With all the stitching, ripping, and re-stitching, I think I did enough stitching

for at least two shawls.  But, in the end, I only have one.  Oh well.

It was fun and I really like the end result.

Hello, Yarnover Truck!

Last week, I posted about a project I was working on and how I'd run out of yarn wayyyy before it was done.  At that time, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend any more money on it.  And, I wasn't even sure that more yarn would be available.  I'd purchased the yarn over a month ago.

After I thought about it for a while, I decided that I liked the project a lot and that I really didn't want to rip out all my hard work.  So, I sent a message to the Yarnover Truck (where I'd bought the yarn)

to see if they happened to have any left in the same dye lot.  They did!  They said they'd be happy to hold it for me even if I couldn't make it to one of their locations until August or later.  Wow!

They were in San Diego on Sunday.  That's not all that close to me but I love

going down there and it was a great excuse to beat the crazy heat we had at home.  

An hour drive and we were in temps 30 degrees cooler than home!  Wow!

Hello, Yarnover Truck!

I went in and they had my yarn right there waiting for me in a bag.

They even gave me a Yarnover Truck button.  They're so nice and I really enjoyed

chatting with them for a few minutes.  I was excited to congratulate them for

winning the 2013 TNNA Business Innovation Award.  I know a lot of us thought

their idea was genius.  It's awesome that they have been officially recognized for it.

They had their glass trophy sitting on the counter.  :-)

I know that I said it this after my first visit to the Yarnover Truck and I'm going to say it again after my second visit...this is one of my all time favorite yarn shops.  That says a lot because I go into every yarn shop I can find in Southern California and everywhere I travel.  I think that just about every yarn they have is super gorgeous.  They have both knitted and crocheted samples that are stylish and perfect for the season.  And, their little shop is nicely organized, bright, airy and just plain fun!  

If you ever get a chance, go shop the Yarnover Truck!

They had a couple of these signs for sale...cute.

I know that food trucks are super popular now.  I had no idea there were stores on wheels...except 

for the Yarnover truck!  Turns out there's a whole association for them.  This event was put on by

the AMRA (American Mobile Retail Association).  Who knew?!  This event was held behind a very nice wine bar called "Fifty Seven Degrees".  It was near down town San Diego and Little Italy...just above the airport.  There were over half a dozen trucks, a DJ spinning some cool tunes, food and drinks.  The theme was fashion and there were a lot of really cool and cute clothes.

Here are some of the mobile shops...

I like the name of this one and they had lots of cute stuff.  They even had a fitting room on board.

The shop next to the Yarnover Truck had lots of hand made art type clothing and Steampunk styles.

We saw a lot of really cool stuff that was very inspired and impressive.

This is another shot of it.  The "mobile" part of their business was a nice, restored VW bus.

What a fun day!  I'm definitely going to keep my eye out for more events like this.

And, of course, I'll definitely be back again and again to shop at the Yarnover Truck!

I may only need one more skein but I bought two...just in case.

This is officially my most expensive yarn project ever!

But, it's not even done yet and it's filled with fun and happy memories.

I was a very happy girl last night as I wound my new ball of yarn

and started working on my project again.  Yay!

I'd also made a pitcher of sangria last night that was oh so delicious.

It was a very good day!

Ugh!

Ugh!  I'm frustrated! 

 I've run out of yarn before my project is anywhere near finished.

I've worked for weeks on this project.  

It's been a love/hate kind of project.

Easy yet hard in that the openness of it makes it hard to see any mistakes

until a row or three later.  Rip!  There has been a lot of frogging along the way!

But, I kept going because I loved the sample I saw weeks ago on the Yarnover Truck.

Here's my project draped over the back of a chair...

(Keep in mind that this is unblocked and would look different and much better after blocking)

I've been a bit worried about the length since I finished the first skein and saw how short it was at that point.  But, I kept hoping (dreaming) that I had enough yarn to make it big enough.  I kept looking at a project on Ravelry (which looks exactly like the one on the Yarnover Truck and says she used 

two skeins) and trying to believe it was going to work...with a little magic.

The sample I saw on the truck was the "increased width" and had a tag that said it needed

two skeins of the yarn used in the sample.  I bought two skeins.  However, at the end of my

two skeins, the shawl is barely over three feet long.  I know it will grow during blocking but

I really don't think it will grow nearly enough!  It really needs one more skein to work.

That's the problem.  The Yarnover Truck is usually in areas very far from where I live.

So, even if they did have a skein left over of this exact color and dye lot (which would be

surprising with the amount of business they do), I'd have to drive hours to get it.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this project.  It's way too short to use.  

But, I put so much time and work into it.  I guess I'll just put it in time out

until I'm ready to frog it completely and use the yarn for another project.  Ugh!

P.S. I've received a couple comments about contacting the Yarnover Truck for more yarn.
I came close to doing that but I've spent so much money on this project already
 and I'm not sure I love it enough to spend more.  I'm not even sure I'm willing to make it
 in a narrower version with the yarn I have because it wasn't very fun to crochet.
Maybe I'll feel a bit differently after some time away from it.

Bora Bora

Hip Hip Hooray!  This shawl is finally done!

I started it last spring and I should have finished it long ago.

All of the other South Bay Shawlettes I've made have crocheted up very quickly.

But, not this one!  The fine, single ply lace Malabrigo yarn was a bit slippery

and I didn't enjoy crocheting this project with it.  I took a lot of breaks from it.  

But, I sure do love the colors and how it looks!

  

I crocheted it with a size "G" hook.

It's delicate and oh so soft.

The finished size is 66" across and about 36 inches long from the center top to the bottom point.

It's big enough to wrap around arms and shoulders or drapey enough to wrap loosely at the neck.

It's light enough to wear in warmer months on a slightly cool day or evening.

The beautiful colors, pattern and texture will be such a wonderful addition to an outfit.

It's like soft jewelry.  And, I noticed that it goes with a lot of things.

It will soon be on it's way to a very special person...Patti.

She's my cousin's wife and she's one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.

She loves the beach and vibrant colors.  I thought she'd love the colors in this yarn.

The blues and greens look like the gorgeous colors you see in photos of tropical islands like Bora Bora

...the lush green landscape and incredible blues in the water.  So pretty!

I hope she likes it!

I made it with two skeins of Malabrigo Lace.  

There was a total of 940 yards but I have a bit left over.

This was my first experience with Malabrigo and it definitely won't be my last.

Malabrigo comes in such gorgeous colors and it's SO soft.

Gratitude

Some people show their love, care or gratitude with food.

I show my love, care or gratitude with yarn.

I just finished up a shawl to show my gratitude to a very special young woman.

She's a friend of my daughter.  She reached out and was there for my daughter in a very big way.

What she did means a lot and I hope this helps to express our appreciation.

 She likes red.  I hope she likes this.  The variations of red in this yarn are gorgeous.

In person, the reds are much richer and prettier.  But, for some reason, I always have trouble getting reds to photograph correctly.  I took photos of it in different parts of the house and different lighting and these three came out the best.  I tried to tweak them a little with editing to get them a little closer.

 I crocheted it with about one and a half skeins of Serendipity Garden Yarn and a size "H" hook.

The pattern is the "Country Cotton Shawl".  I've made it before with the same yarn

but in a different colorway.  It's fun, easy and fairly quick to make.

I just had to count often to make sure I didn't do any mindless mistakes to throw it off. 

I added a shell edge along all three sides.  The shells were made with three double crochet stitches, a treble in the middle, and three more doubles.  I did a slip stitch in between the shells...a stitch that's very short to help set off the height of the shells and create better scallops.  The shell on the bottom point was slightly different.  It was made with three doubles, 2 trebles, and three doubles. 

My Maia

The "Maia Shawl" I finished a few months ago is finally blocked! Yay! And, I couldn't be happier with it. The colors in the Madeline Tosh Lace yarn are so pretty. And, this pattern...WOW! The designer really knows crochet and really knows how to write a pattern. The pattern is beyond impressive. Just the fact that this intricate lace can be created from a written pattern and no chart is amazing. But, every stitch the designer chose and where they put it was genius! It's the most intricate lace project I've done and absolutely the most rewarding.

It took less than 950 yards that were in the skein and I used a size "G" crochet hook to make it.








So gorgeous! I love it!


Blocking took more time than usual and a LOT more pins! I love the extra little detail/point between the big points.


It was worth every minute and every pin. Check out these details...


I need to figure out who designed this and see what else they have to offer. Their master pattern designing and writing skills are worth every penny of the pattern.

Color!

I finished my shawl! My doggy, Salsa, approves.


My husband and I escaped to the beach in Carlsbad (San Diego) for the weekend. I finished it while we were there and spread it out on our RV sofa to get a good look at it and take a couple of pictures. Salsa has her new jacket on because it was pretty chilly that day.


I found the pattern on Ravelry. It's called "Country Cotton Shawl". It's free from Lion Brand. I used a size "H" crochet hook and five skeins of "Serenity Garden" yarn to make it. It turned out really big, just as I had hoped.


The yarn is synthetic but it feels really soft...kind of like bamboo and/or cotton. The shawl drapes really well and it has a nice weight to it. I really like it.


It's one more shawl for my growing collection. This one will go with so many things because of all the colors in it.


I like to wear my shawls in different ways, depending on how I feel, the weather, and what I'm wearing it with. Sometimes I even use a shawl pin.


The shell edges in the pattern were a little flat. So, I made some adjustments to give mine a little more shape. Instead of five double crochets, I did three double crochets, a treble, and three double crochets, for a total of seven stitches in each one. This made them fuller and taller/more round. This is the first time I've crocheted an edge all the way around a shawl. Usually, I just do the bottom two sides. It wasn't fun figuring out the spacing on the top edge, but I do love having that cute little scallop all the way around.




I enjoyed every inch of color that slipped through my fingers as I stitched this shawl. Color makes me happy!


The beach makes me happy too. Although, it was a bit chilly and stormy when we got there.


But, Saturday was beautiful! The sun was shining most of the day and we even had a beautiful sunset. More color!


P.S. Thank you to everyone who left such nice comments on my last post about being happy. I truly appreciate every one of them. It means a lot to me and helps to cheer me up. If I didn't write back to you with an email, it was because there was a "no reply" on your comment and no email address to write back. But, please know that I really appreciate you taking time to leave me a message and for your kind words and thoughts. :-)