Sooo...the craft fair I was trying to get into was cancelled. Now I have hats. Lotsahats. Luckily I had a Plan B... I had a great time at the Charlottesville Holiday City Market and gained lots of experience points. I also sold some hats! The most popular ones happened to be the product of a last minute light bulb flash moment. I finished up a few of these just as my husband finished packing the car for our 2 1/2 hour trip from Norfolk to C-ville:( brocade is purdy )

I've been trying to knit a slouchy hat from this yarn for months now. I haven't found a pattern that doesn't cause strange pooling or that keeps my attention. I started this simple 3X1 rib hat last week as something to do during my hour long lunch break--since it only takes me five minutes to eat a turkey sandwich. And I am impressed that my random number of cast-on stitches plus the random number of increases has created even striping that spirals up the hat! Look! I know that if you don't knit it doesn't look like much, but trust me, its magic!

I have been missing my old crafty self lately. I have been crafting... just not as profusely. It could be because I have a baby now. Mostly, I attribute my lull to the economy. (Obama '08!) I just don't have as much disposable income anymore. I used to craft for fun and for the challenge. And I used to do it for free. Now I am ready to embrace the concept of "craft for profit" as many of the people around me have been suggesting for YEARS! Alas, it is difficult for me to put a price on my skills.

Now I got this Great Idea a couple of weeks ago to start making fleece hats like the ones from a previous post and sell them this fall/winter. I just needed a place to sell my wares. After much web-scouring I think I have found my place in this crafty world... if they will accept me:
The 7 cities crafters HANDMADE PARADE
( Here are my entry photos... make with the clicky-click )

My super wonderful husband braved the female dominated LYS and put together the most super wonderful Christmas present for me. We had a baby boy on October 24 and he picked out the yarn, pattern book, pattern, and needles for an adorable little baby sweater. It is my first sweater!

( i couldn't decide on which picture to use so here they alllllllll are )

I've been dilated 4 cm now for about 2 weeks. And 70% effaced. Lemme show you:



So I am right there between diagrams 'D' and 'E'. And if I was in labor I would be in a stage called 'active labor'. But, I am not in labor. And haven't even felt a contraction. Yet. I was sooooo freaked out when the doctor told me. So I started knitting hats:



A baby stockinette cap with ribbed edge, a cabled cap for me and the start of a spiral rib stocking cap with tassle for my husband because he is goofy and only looks good in goofy hats. And the yarn is SWS in natural denim.

This is my first FO (craftspeak for Finished Object) in quite a while--if you don't count the cotton dishcloths that I made and gave to my sister before I remembered to take pictures. Doh. This is my second pair of socks ever! The first ones I made were for Sock Wars '06. That was fun--I might do it again this year. The socks in my icon are the ones that killed me.

So. I am a frugal crafter and only do one project at a time. Socks seemed to be out of my reach, since I could not find the supplies I needed at my local craft stores. And I hardly ever buy anything online. I gave in a couple of weeks ago when I finally visited knitpicks. I can allow myself an $8 dollar pair of socks... right?

I dunno how I ended up ordering $4.49 a skein yarn instead of $3.29 a hank yarn. Two skeins are required for a 'pair' of socks. I must've pushed the wrong button somewhere ;p

( Monkey socks...from Knitty.com of course )

My crafting frenzy has slowed down a little, but here are the rest of the xmas crafts I didn't get to in my last post:
( but you still a hater )

Here are a few things that I have completed during this holiday season. Surprisingly, I have been able to crank out about one craft a day...whilst my husband makes sure the house is clean and I am fed and the bills are paid. Ahhhh, true love. ;) I am sure there are even more pictures waiting to be uploaded from my 1GB memory card. But, those can wait.

( picture purge! )

Since I've seen a couple of references to my fleece beenies on craftgrrl, here's my cousin and her new baby Josephine. She was born on Dec. 8th and I brought mama a matching hat. All together: "awwwwwwwwww!"

“Everything--a horse, a vine--is created for some duty...For what task, then, were you yourself created?
A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for.”

~ Marcus Aurelius
The Emperor-Philosopher



The long arms of the world’s tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling plastic material out of their stomachs...People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic...“When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday,” Chen said. “The two dolphins are in very good condition now.”

I have so much fleece left over from the baby hats I posted yesterday! This is by request from my little sister. The character used to be called Baby Cinnamon. I guess even Sanrio is trying to be PC... boo...



( couple more crappy pics )

I am very bad at taking pictures of things on my head...

I used the tute for animal hats from the craftgrrl memories to make these hats for my cousin's baby shower. It was very hard for me to let them go... I love Sanrio! Doesn't everybody?! Sadly, I couldn't make it to the shower, but I heard that the hats were the hit of the party. Yay me!






They're made of fleece, and I am sorry I couldn't get a better picture. Luckily, I remembered to snap a few shots before I packed and wrapped them. I used this chart for the sizes and ended up making them between 12 and 15 inches each to make sure at least one of them fit.

My nieces couldn't make up their minds until the night before Halloween so it was up to their crafty aunt (tita) to make their costumes:


could this

from target for $3.77 turn into this?:

( let's find out )

I wrote a pattern. Wanna see it? ( Here it go... )

I had some precious, precious yarn leftover from my one glove that I posted earlier and made this:


( action shots )

WTF!
Check out the comments. That's some funny sh!@.
period.

I am asthmatic, so I altered the Cigar Gloves from Knitty.com to accomodate my ailment.
( Do wool allergies mock strep throat? )

crossposted to craftgrrl

I must see these scupltures every year...always. They never cease to amaze me. Last year I tried to take pictures in the dark right before the fireworks. This time we went early, and went home early. I think I have strep throat. Argh. I also managed to score some boardwalk pizza and Kohr Bros peanut butter/chocolate swirl before we fought our way through boardwalk traffic and I collapsed into bed.
( image heeeaaaaavvvvyyyyy )