Red Heart Super Saver Blacklight - Argyle

I was playing around with the Red Heart Super Saver Blacklight yarn the other day.  Have you used it?  It's black and neon and super bright.  It also makes an awesome argyle!

The repeat of the variegated pattern is very long (it reminds me of the Super Saver Camo yarns) but I used a larger hook and it turned out to be a great scarf length.

So, for those of you that want to make a fun on-trend neon scarf with a little something extra (argyle!) I used a size I hook and my Argyle Crochet technique.  Mine worked out to be 185 single crochet stitches long, and 17 rows. (You don't HAVE to use the argyle technique, it would still look cool as a variagated scarf).  The finished scarf is approximately 63 inches long and 5 inches wide.

xoxo

Random Drawing!

Hi Dynamos!  Thank you for all of the lovely comments about my latest soapmaking adventure.  I used Random.org to pick 3 winners from the comments.

So April Jacobson, Sue Coletta, and Susiewan in the Netherlands, I'll be sending you some soap this week!

xoxo

Soap Challenge Club - Squeeze Bottle Designs

Hi Dynamos!  I enrolled in the Soap Challenge Club this month over at Great Cakes Soapworks.  Amy was teaching how to do squeeze bottle designs in your soap this month and I was desperate to know how to do it, since my previous attempt to figure it out on my own had proven disastrous.  Okay, perhaps disastrous is a little dramatic, but it sure was ugly as all get out.

Anyway, as part of the "class" you have to post pictures of your finished soap and write a little about your experience.  So, crochet goddesses, if this doesn't interest you, I'll not be offended if you just skip to the next blog in your feed.  But for those of you who want to know a little more about the weirdness I've been up to, please join us and follow along!

My entry to the Great Cakes Soapworks Soap Club Challenge!  I am calling this Fresh Snowflakes.

This was my first attempt, post video lesson, with the squeeze bottle technique.  I had picked a scent I'd never used before, Fresh Snow from Bramble Berry, and I found it very easy to work with.  The scent is supposed to evoke the calm and peace that follows a snowfall, and I wanted to use a snowflake to really drive that feeling home.

Of course, being me, one soap was not enough.  I drew some skull and crossbones and made a pirate soap.  I used Bay Rum from Bramble Berry to scent it, and as I poured the FO (fragrance oil) into the raw soap batter it turned the batter yellow!  I almost had a heart attack (since, much like the Fresh Snow, I had never used this FO before.  Why do I torture myself this way?! LOL!)  I added a big spoonful of Titanium Dioxide (TD) to the batter, which didn't quite mix in and left it a little spotty.  I think that I got lucky, since the TD spots look really cool with the skulls.  And I am very gratified to see that the FO didn't cause my soap to turn brown, or even stay yellow.  It's a bony cream color, perfect for scrubbing pirate booties.

My MIL is a huge fan of Marimekko, and this technique lent itself beautifully to creating designs inspired by that label.  I would really like to give this one another try, I would love for the orange centers of the flowers to pop a little more, and it would have been cool if I could have kept the pink and red from bleeding into each other.  But, I'm pretty pleased overall with how it turned out, since working with a ketchup-bottle full of lye soap isn't the easiest way to paint.  LOL!!!

I very much appreciate how supportive all of you have been with my new endeavors.  Does anyone want some soap?  I can vouch for it, it's awesome!  I'll mail out soap packages to 3 lucky Dynamos.  Leave a comment with your email address, and I'll do a random drawing on Monday, November 18th to decide the winners!

xoxo

Mama's Mamachee Slippers

EDIT 11/7/13:  Good morning Dynamos!  I edited the pictures for this post about two months ago, but scheduled it to come out yesterday (which was two months in the future for me) because I made our whole family slippers from Mamachee's patterns, but at the time I had posted a lot of them and I was trying to give some space between them so that wasn't the ONLY thing I was talking about.  LOL!   And then, somehow, I completely forgot about it.  

So this morning I got a notice that Amber had made a very sweet, and of course confused, comment (since I hadn't written a single thing about any of the pictures and as a group, they're not telling a complete story) and I realized my mistake.  How horrifying.  So I hopped on as fast as I could and am going to try to make sense out of this post.

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I made my self some boots!  I used THIS pattern, the Mamachee Boots by Tara Murray.  They're pretty comfy, but they stretched out.  I don't know if it was that I crochet at a looser gauge than she does, but after wearing them for a few days they stretched out so far that they actually fit my husband (Men's size 16) perfectly.  I am not entirely sure what do do next.  I don't know if washing them will shrink them back up, or if I need to just make a new, skin-tight version for myself that will loosen up with wear.  Frankly, I am disappointed, which is not a review that I would have given two months ago when I finished them, because the pattern was easy to follow and fun to put together.    I am very conflicted over these boots!

I was going to make jute soles (also by Tara Murray) to make my boots indoor/outdoor slippers, but I never actually sewed them on.  They're still sitting in my work bag looking very cool.  But the pattern was as fun to work on as the slipper had been, and it was great to work with a new material.

Ah, I was trying to figure out why I put pictures of these particular soaps on too.  They are my latest disappointment soaps!  LOL!  The top one was a citrus scented soap that was supposed to be a rainbow swirl, but I forgot to add the scent until after I had poured my swirl into the mold.  So I had to pour it back into my mixing bowl and add the fragrance, and completely lost my rainbow. But it really does smell divine.

At the time I made it I was a little disappointed in the lumps on the side of my purple ombre soap, but once I cut it, they weren't as noticeable.  But this soap was the cause of my first real lye burn, thus the angry red picture below.  I don't know how I managed to get lye water under the edge of my glove and (no picture for this) on my cheek.  OMG that hurt.  I don't recommend it. But I've healed and have been much more cautious and haven't gotten burned since.  

xoxo

Ruffle-Butt Baby!

My mom brought my niece, Bug, over last week because her momma (my sister S!) was super sick with the flu.  Bug is six months old and cute as a button.  She's also teething and drooly which necessitated a wardrobe change.  Luckily, Auntie Jaime had the perfect outfit.

The  Simple Ruffle-Butt Onesie!!  It was a perfect fit!  She agreed to work as a baby model for me, and as payment she got to keep the outfit, plus she got all the snuggles she could stand!

It makes me want to get my Knit-Picker out and make some more for her for Christmas!

(If you've got your own cutie to dress up, the free pattern is HERE)

xoxo

A New Bag

My sister-in-law is getting married this weekend.  I've been crocheting on a wrap based on THIS wrap, and it's darn near killed me.  I'm, like 8 skeins in, and even though I've only got 2 more to go, I don't want to finish it.  It was fun to begin with, but now it's so boooooooring!!  I made mine in purple, and it's just so PURPLE.  I mean, I dig purple, but it's just so MUCH purple...  I needed a break.

So, I made a bag.  I've been living on Pinterest lately (LOVE IT!  It's online crochet pattern hoarding!) and I saw a pin for THIS photo tute from this cool Finnish site (aren't on Pinterest?  HERE is the link to the site) and I HAD to make one.  Like, right now.  Because I missed COLOR!!!  

It was really fast.  I was able to make mine in one night, but I didn't line it, so I imagine that would have taken longer.  I also made my straps a little different, because I wanted more support (since I didn't line it!) 

It's going to be perfect to carry around my WIP wrap until I get it finished! LOL!  

xoxo

The Owl Craze and Chronic Pain

Howdy Dynamos!

I am the first to admit that I'm pretty late to the owl craze.  I was an early adopter on the sparrow madness a few years ago, and frankly, it became annoying when everyone I knew had all the same stuff I did.  I'm not into matchy-matchy (ask Jake how many times I've told him to change his shirt because we were wearing the same color).  Mostly I like one-of-a-kind stuff.  I march to the beat of my own electronic drum machine.  But the damn crochet owls have worn me down with their extreme cuteness.

I made Mims an owl bookmark. She's got reading homework this year (20 minutes every day) and anything I can do that makes it more fun for her to get out a book is good for me!

I've been fooling around with some tiny owls, trying to make some that would be tiny enough to wear as earrings. (I used craft thread and a size B hook for these, to give you a sense of scale.  I should have put something in the picture to help you visualize it, darn it.  The small owl in the center is about the size of the end of my thumb.)  These are still a little large, but they would make a cute necklace.  I'm also thinking that they would make a pretty cute zipper pull...  The purple one is just the right size to make a key fob that you won't lose in your purse.  I need to make a trip to the craft store.  I sort of jumped the gun by posting about this project.  I'll write it up as a pattern when I get the kinks worked out.

Completely off the topic of crochet, I have recently discovered that I'm allergic to everything yummy in the world.  I have had these stabbing pains in my abdomen for the last couple of years every time I ate.  Sometimes they would be so bad and intense the pain felt like it ran down the inside of my leg all the way to my knee.  It's funny what you learn to live with.  I realized that I wasn't any good for my family, living with constant pain.  My temper was short, and I was unable to be flexible when things didn't go as I had planned.  I didn't want to be that kind of mom, or wife.

So I've removed wheat and dairy products from my diet and most of the refined sugar too (but that's only because most of my sugar was eaten with wheat and dairy... mmm, cookies...).  If you were wondering, the first few days were not fun.  But now that it's been a few weeks, I'm finding a new normal.  My stomach pain stopped after a couple of days and it hasn't returned.  I can't remember when the last time was that I went this long without it.

Okay, this part is weird, but I've got to mention it.  Jake and I have stopped having arguments since I started eating this way.  We went from not being able to spend more that two hours together without it turning into World War 3, to maybe having a slight disagreement once every few days.  Weird, right? We were laughing about it yesterday, and I thought it was worth mentioning.  Now, I'm not claiming that eating this way fixes serious marital problems, but I think that if one person in a relationship is in chronic pain, or living with some sort of extreme stress, it's very hard on the other person.  We realized that neither one of us was getting the love and support we needed, since I was using all my 'extra love' on just being pleasant in normal situations, and frankly, he was tired of me being hurt and sad all the time.  Our marriage has been a bumpy ride, but it was never as difficult as the last few years have been.  It hadn't even occurred to me that my health and the health of my relationship were so intertwined.  Taking care of myself has brought me benefits in so many ways.

So let my story be a cautionary tale.  If there's a way that you can take better care of yourself this weekend, do it!!!  You'll be a better partner/parent/sibling/bff to the people who love you!  And yes, if yarn therapy is what makes you feel better, I give you permission to indulge yourself!

xoxo