Just another creative day...

I am pretty excited now. I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday. I have decided to start working on many crochet, sewing and stamping, scrapbooking projects to accumlate items for gifts. I am talking about birthday, Christmas, baby shower, wedding shower, hostess and whatever miscellaneous event comes up! I think this is a great idea because I will work on my crafts while improving my skills and giving some very thoughtful gifts to friends and family. I have already started working on my Christmas list (I have a very short one for now). It feels good to have a plan so early in the year. I already found several projects I can't wait to attempt.

Let's start with a blast from the past. Remember that cardigan I was working on crocheting? Here is a picture of the example.

I have been working on it dilligently for the past few weeks while I was sick and on vacation. I am progressing quite well. I am having issues with tension. I start out loose then it gets tighter as I progress. It's hard for me to maintain a consistent tension. Because of this I was pulling out rows of stitches constantly. Finally I got a bit discouraged and put it to the side. I decided to continue on and I will work on my tension as I make more projects. This way I should get more projects completed. I must remember this is a work in progress. Every project will not be perfect. Here are my current pieces.

This is the back of the sweater. It's pretty wide but I think when finished it will shrink some.

This is the right front. It looks good so far. I started this after Christmas and finished it by New Year's day. I was very proud of myself.
I am currently working on the left front. This is a photo of it next to the right front. I am counting rows until I need to begin shaping. It's coming along well. I worked on it since Wednesday. I think I am doing quite well.

JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts has a sale on yarn. I found a few patterns I really like so I thought this would be a good time to find some nice yarn to make these projects. I have decided to make my Aunt a beret for her birthday which is on the 8th of January. I found it in one of my crochet books I bought when I was in New York at AC Moore. I's called "So Simple Crochet" by Melody Griffiths. It's an easy project which should take around two hours which is perfect since her birthday is next week and I will see her possibly on Sunday.

Here is the photo of the beret. Pretty easy enough! I am making it using this chenille yarn. I made my Aunt a boa scarf from this yarn a couple of years ago so I thought a matching beret would be nice. The color is bordeax. Very pretty. I started a swatch to test for guage. This is a shrug I found in the Fall 2007 Interweave Crochet magazine. It's a very easy design. I can't wait to start this one. I found some really nice yarn at JoAnn's for $8.99 and I used my 40% off coupon so I am pretty pleased with myself.
I am really like the colors in this yarn. I do need to find another color for the contrast stitching. I am thinking of a nice chocolate. I really have a thing for chocolate colors this season. I also got a late start at looking at my new calendars this year. I didn't get home until later Tuesday night and I wanted to watch the latest episode of Law & Order SVU. After that I was pretty tired and went to bed. I got up the next morning and I remembered my new calendars. I had one for a crochet pattern a day and another for scrapbook idea of the day. I love these calendars. They are so inspirational. I found a pattern I liked on the first two days! I may include them in my projects to do this year. It feels good to have inspiration coming at you everyday.

While I was in JoAnn's on New Year's day I also browsed the magazine wall. This is like major temptation for me since I enjoy magazines so much and I spend a small fortune on them. I was really dancing with the devil at this point. But I didn't buy any! I was so proud of myself. I looked through the latest issue of Interweave Crochet and Crochet today as well as many other magazines. I wanted to buy one but I remembered those 40% off coupons and I didn't have any with me! So that shut that temptation down real quick. Besides my money will be tight this month and I don't need another pattern magazine now since I have so many project patterns at home. I will just wait! I am so glad I did too!

Well this weekend should be a fun one! I will be meeting with the Mocha Memories ladies for a day of scrapbooking. I need to put some page kits together to take with me. I will do that tonight. I also have a 12th night party with at my friends home in the evening. So tomorrow will be a full day. Sunday I plan on going to church and visiting my mother afterward. Then one of my good friends will come by for a visit. All together this should be a wonderful first weekend of the month.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend too!