Ruffle Scarf Complete and Blogoversary!

Hello Friends,

I am still here! As you many remember we are building a new house and also put our current house up for sale. Due to contant showings of our house to potential buyers I have not been able to crochet as much. This is mostly due to have to clean up each day and not being able to leave my projects out and about. I have some great news though.... we sold our house! The hooks are back out and I am ready to go!
Today is also a special day for me as today, January 25th is my 1 year Blogoversary. I cannot believe a whole year has gone by.

Since starting my blog I have 69,986 visitors and I am so grateful to have people around the world to share my life of crocheting, knitting (somewhat), and living life with. My post popular posting is the pattern for the Never-ending Scarf (Infinity Scarf) with 2,784 pageviews - most likely due to being posting on Ravelry.com but I thank each and every one of you for visiting my pages and sharing in the crochet fun.

Since I sort of became a scarf factory this past fall and winter, I think it is very fitting for me to share my most recent scarf with you - a ruffle scarf. This will be sent out to my mom tomorrow morning for her to enjoy.

I followed this pattern to crochet the scarf: http://www.tipjunkie.com/how-to-crochet-basic/ scroll down to the middle of the page for the pattern. Some of the ladies I work with made this with the knit version of the pattern and thought it was much easier to knit it. I tried to knit it at first but my knitting skills are not up to par, so I picked up my hook and found crochet was much easier. I also like that the crochet version looks less like one long cylinder ruffle and more of a bunched ruffle. Either way I think they are both great patterns.

I used Red Heart Boutique Sashay Yarn which is just about out of stock everywhere. I was able to find some online but the rest of the colors were back ordered. This color is called Mambo.

I hope you are having a fabulous week and enjoy this lovely Wednesday.

xoxo Susan

Yule Log and Candy Cane Scarf

Hello Friends,

I was starting to get the after Christmas blues, but it went away quickly when I took down the Christmas tree and decorations yesterday. Usually we keep it up to at least New Years since the Christmas holiday does not end on Christmas day, but we our house is currently listed on the market so we want to make sure it is in "regular" shape for potential buyers to see. I did leave this little sign up though...

 

Since Christmas is gone in my house, I will share a little bit more about it with you in Bloglang. On Christmas day we had a wonderful dinner at our friends' house with delicious food and J and I both had Yule Log for the very first time. I've seen people mentioning Yule logs on facebook and blogs, but we never had one at any of my family holiday festivities.

Our friends' beautiful Christmas tree

Yule Log with little mushrooms

Christmas Manger

The center of this yule log was a real treat. Nelly, our hostess is from Greece and spend some time in France this past summer. While in France she picked up some Creme de Marron - which is a chestnut spread. It was very delicious. She even made little mushrooms with chocolate under the mushroom top to look real!

Chestnut Creme inside - delicious!

Look at that mushroom - a real work of food art

Well, let's get on to what you probably really want to see... crocheted! I finally finished the rows of the candy cane scarf for my mom and I am looking forward to making things with more colors now. The red and white look great, but about halfway through the scarf I was sick of using just red and white. I have some ends to weave in and then ship it off.

Candy Cane Crochet Scarf

It reminds me of "Where's Waldo" - don't you think?

My next project is to finish the last row of my granny garden blanket - it will finally be complete as a 10 by 10 square blanket. And after that I need to finish my ripple. The ripple was the very first blanket I started to make when I began crocheting again almost 1 year ago.

Are you trying to finish up any projects before the New Year rings?
Happy Thursday
xoxo Susan

Crochet Candy Cane Scarf, Christmas Cookies, and Christmas Flowers

Happy Wednesday!

Today was my first official day of break since all grades were due and submitted online by noon yesterday. My list of things to do while off is increasing like clean out closets, go through cabinets, etc., etc. but I will not be doing anything until I finish my mom's candy cane scarf. 

Right now the scarf is over halfway done. I am doing double crochet clusters of threes, 13 clusters across (wide). Two rows of each color at a time. I was thinking it may be a little too wide but my mom thought it was the perfect width, so it will be perfect for her.

I also started some Christmas cookies, which usually I make much earlier. Better late than never? I usually like to make a variety and give tins of cookies to some friends around town. The first batch were peanut butter blossoms. A peanut butter cookie ball and a Hershey's chocolate kiss on top.
These ones are made with Bisquick instead of flour and are DELICIOUS!

My only problem is the cookie part cracks when I put the kiss on top. Does anyone know why this happens? Are they too dry? They are nice and moist though, and taste delicious.

And, here is a Christmas bouquet I picked picked up at the grocery store (Publix). I thought they were great to remind me Christmas is coming and I need to finish those cookies up ASAP (as soon as possible).  As Christmas becomes only 3 days away tomorrow, I need to finish the rest of the cookies and frost some cookie cut outs.

I hope your holiday preparations are coming along nicely and you are able to find joy in the season. Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it!
xoxo Susan

Time to Catch Up on Projects

Hello Friends,

I am taking the day today to relax and recuperate. After today, I will catch up on other projects I need to finish up before the year comes to an end. Although classes are over and grades are just about ready to submit, I do have a meeting or two I have to partake in before Christmas. So, my break is not complete ON yet.

Early this morning I dropped my mom and dad off at the airport. They flew back to the cold weather in Buffalo, NY. Although there is no snow in the ground there right now, here is a photo my dad sent me at the end of last winter. This is their backyard view from the window in their dining room.

Snow in Buffalo, NY 2011

The temperatures here have been great, and I am sure my parents were sad to leave the warm weather and beautiful sunsets. Here is a sunset my mom snapped a photo of while they were at the beach last week.

After finishing and sending off all of those hats you saw in my last post, I have heard from some pleased customers! I have been working on a few things since then with only one finished product to share right now. A pink scarf for my mom in Lion Bran Brand Jiffy Yarn - Rose Spray. I used two full skeins. I think it could have used a little of a 3rd skein but I was finishing it last minute last night and of course the stores were closed and my parents left early this morning. So my mom said the length will be fine.

I put it on the tree for a festive photo. It looks sort of weird (I know), but I didn't get a lot of photos due to the poor lighting late last night. The color of the yarn was very nice, it is 100% acrylic and machine wash and dryable. It felt nice and thick, sure to keep you warm on a cold and snowy day. I used the infinity scarf pattern but did not connect the ends. I went until I ran out of yarn. I added a row to the beginning chain to make it look finished off like the other end.

I hope to finish a candy cane scarf by the end of this evening. I want to get this one mailed off to my mom so she can wear it before Christmas. The change in colors from red to white every other row is much more time consuming than I remembered. But - it is looking very nice.

One more thing before I get to crocheting. We visited our house today to do some sweeping. The builder sweeps but for anyone who has built a house before, you know the workers do not keep things too tidy and when it comes time to lay the carpet, they often lay the carpet pad and carpet right over all the dusk and plaster pieces. So we went to sweep up a little to make sure we are not inhaling plaster dusk for the next 30 years. Drywall is all up and the stucco on the outside is complete!

Looking up to the loft from the living room

Stairway

Kitchen

Looking down to the living room from the top of the stairs

Family Room and Backyard View

Master Bathroom

Stucco done outside... ready for paint!

We can't wait to move in!
Well, I hope your holiday preparations are not stressing you out too much. Since we do not have any family nearby we have a quiet Christmas together. I will enjoy having some relaxation after a busy November and early December of traveling and spending time with family in Buffalo and in Florida.
Happy Sunday,
xoxo Susan

Only one follower away!!!!! AND another scarf

Hello Friends,

Just one follower away from 100!!! I am so very excited. I will post my give away items tomorrow as well as directions to entering the give away. Today felt like a Friday all day long, luckily tomorrow really is Friday. The autumn weather is truly here in Florida. When I got home from work today, I opened our sliding glass windows and let the fresh air inside. I just had to close the sliding glass doors because I was getting too cold.

Another Never-ending Scarf in Lion Brand Amazing yarn - color: Strawberry Fields. I used exactly two skeins of yarn and for some reason this one is shorter in length than the other two Amazing yarn scarves. The length was still long enough for a never-ending scarf (infinity).

I also want to share with you some lovely crochet projects completed by some of my co-workers. It fills me with happiness to see the ladies at work hooking away. Who knew we had so many crocheters all in the same office (well College in our case).
This first one is Bridget's afghan, really great textures!

This is Jackie's Never-ending scarf in neutral colors.

Jackie wanted to make scarves for her granddaughters for a weekend at Disney world (not that it will be cold but because everyone loves an infinity scarf!). She decreased the pattern by 10 chains at the beginning making these 3 clusters wide (instead of 5) and short in length to accommodate her 8 year old granddaughters.

I hope your week is coming to a nice end and you are ready to kick back and enjoy the weekend.
Have a fabulous Friday,
xoxo Susan

Another you know what..... Never-ending SCARF!

Hello Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. I cannot believe I have not posted since Friday. I have been crocheting, but have not had those extra minutes to download the photos, and then upload the photos and post. So, finally I am here and ready to go. I have been working on writing down what I am doing so I can have patterns of my work. There is nothing worse than wanting to make another piece and not remember what I did. Hopefully this weekend I can finish some patterns.

I have continued the scarf factory here and made another one with the Stitch Nation Alpaca Love. The pattern is now on Ravelry.com if you are making one and use ravelry make sure you link to it here! So far there are five people who are working on the project!! This made my very excited since it is my first pattern posted on there.

The color for this yarn is called Pebblestone. I think it is a nice shade of gray. Each time I set out to make another Never-ending scarf, I think about using a different pattern but this one is fast and looks great, so I am continuously drawn to it again.

I am 6 followers away from 100 and once I get to 100 I am going to do my very first give-away!!!!! I started blogging less than a year ago and have been waiting to the right time to do a give-away. Well friends, the time has almost come. So if you are a reader but not a follower yet, consider "following" so I can get to 100! Over the summer I was hoping to reach 50 followers by the end of the year and while I was not looking, I went over 50. Reading and visiting blogs has become a great hobby of mine, I love learning about the things you do and about the differences and similarities in our language, lives, and culture. So neat!

Only two days till Friday. Have a fabulous Thursday,
xoxo Susan

Pink Never-ending Scarf (Infinity Scarf)

Hello!

I hope you had a nice weekend. We had a rainy day over the weekend and I loved every minute of it. The rainy day was perfect for crocheting and making progress on handmade Christmas presents.
I finished the Mesa colored one which you saw in my last post (on the right in the photo) and also made one in pink. I love pink things, but it just happens to be October and Breast Cancer awareness month, so I thought this pink scarf is the perfect thing to highlight this month.

 The pink yarn is Alpaca Love by Stitch Nation. I was able to get each skein for $3 on clearance at A.C. Moore. I used a little over 2 skeins, hopefully I can get two more skeins to make a second one in the same color. The yarn is 80% Wool and 20% Alpaca. The yarn feels nice and will be very warm to winter weather (of course not where I live in FL, but this will be perfect for up north).
Here it is worn 5 different ways:

I also want to show you the connect-as-you-go finishing method to making the scarf a continuous circle.

I started off a little "off" which is that extra little flab on the right side

You can see where the "slip stitch" occurred to connect the two

I tried to pull the two apart and take a photo at the same time so you could see the connections a little bit better but apparently my hand shakes too much and all the photos were blurry. So this is the best I could do after many attempts.

I think I finally have a good grasp on connecting the ends using a connect-as-you-go method. I am working on another one right now and will try to get some better photos. Maybe J will be able to help me get some good shots :)

Have a great start to your week and if you are in Canada -- Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo Susan

More Scarves in the Making

Hello Friends,
Thanks for stopping by. I am still having difficulty posting comments to blogs -- has anyone found a solution to this yet? I have been keeping up with all of your fun projects and happenings, I am just not able to tell you I am reading in your comment section. Hopefully this issue is resolved soon.

Well, the lovely ladies I work with were eager to try my Never-ending Scarf pattern and got to work right away. They are fast hookers too, one made this much progress just during her lunch break:

You may notice the width is a little bit slimmer. She reduced the chain by 5 and is making 4 "clusters" across instead of 5 because she is making this scarf for her 8 year old granddaughter. The yarn is super soft, it is Bernat Bamboo (85% Viscose, 12% Acrylic, 2% Polyester).

 Another lovely lady I work loved the pattern so much she went out to Joann's on her lunch break to stock up on yarn to make several of them! (I know, I work with such a great group of crafters)

Here is her Never-ending scarf with only 3 "clusters" across - she is making it smaller in width for a child too. This pattern can be increase or decreased by adding or reducing the chain in quantities of 5.

Now, I need to show you how I connected the ends of the Never-ending scarf together. To do this, you are going to bring the two ends together and start to work the pattern for the last row by chaining two and slip stitching to the other end of the scarf (to make the sides of both ends connect).

Then make your 3dcs into the chain space like you normally would. Chain 1 and instead of making the second chain, do a slip stitch with the other end of the scarf (your second connection). This is similar to the connect-as-you-go method for granny squares.

I made a pink scarf and hope to be able to show the connect-as-you-go for the last row more clear in those photos. Check back tomorrow for the photo tutorial.

Tomorrow is Columbus Day here in the USA, my university does not celebrate it has Columbus Day, we actually have Fall break tomorrow and Tuesday. So I am very much looking forward to having tomorrow off, but Tuesday I have several meetings so I will not be able to take the 2 day Fall Break. I am not complaining, I will take the 1 day graciously. Hopefully I can making another scarf or two!

xoxo Susan