Crochet and Ravelry Musings

I've been very busy with my crochet group. Now that fall has begun we have decided to meet weekly. This was my suggestion. I find that I miss a lot of meetings with my work schedule. We are going to create a group on Ralvery too! I'm quite excited. Many members already added me to their friends list (It's mskasey for those of you who would like to add me too!).

As a group we decided to do a knit/crochet a-long. Remember I'm a crocheter not a knitter (which I will try after a few more crochet projects). Well I was the first one who started and first one finished. I decided to do this pattern by Moda Dea yarns.


This is a crocheted kimono. Kritina from our group brought a knitted kimono book to our meetings and suggested a knit/crochet a-long. They chose kimonos from the book and I searched the internet for this one. Here is my review.

This is the finished kimono

Close up details

Pattern - Moda Dea crochet kimono - leaflet


Yarn - Bernat Berella "4" the afghan yarn

Color - Burgundy


How much yarn used - about 6 1/8 skeins. The pattern suggests a Moda dea yarn but it was more per skein than I wanted to pay.


Cost of yarn - $1 a skein! I bought 9 just in case. I found it in the clearance aisle at Michaels'. I love a good bargin.


Level - easy


Started - September 29th


Ended - October 14th


Size - 36


Did it look like the picture - yes it did!


Were the instructions easy to follow - yes


What did I like about the pattern - very easy and quick to crochet


What did I dislike about the pattern - nothing was wrong with the pattern at all.

Would I crochet it again - definitely. I want to do it again for myself!


Changes made - I decided to crochet a belt instead of using ribbon like the pattern said to do. It's just a simple single crochet belt.


Would I recommend this pattern - Definitely! Very easy! Good for a beginner crocheter


I still need to wash and block it but I think you get the overall effect. I think it came out great and I can't wait to give it to my mom. I think she will love it! I'm excited!

More projects to come!

Toodle Loo!

An almost perfect week.

This week was definitely a good week for me. Not
only was Sunday my birthday but I had a meeting with a new knitting group very close to home. The group is called "Ewe Can Knit". This group meets at a local yarn shop called "Peggy's Strands of Heaven" which is located in Plainfield, IL. A very nice store.

The owner's is Bridgette. She is the one wearing the purple shirt. Here she is helping someone with a project. She was very friendly and accommodating to our group. If you look behind her we even have a gentleman who finished a knitting project while at our meeting. It was a very pretty shawl. I kind of put my foot in my mouth though. When I first saw the project I thought it was a tree skirt. I really need to think before I open my mouth again. He started it this month and finished it already. He just learned to knit and he is doing a fabulous job in my opinion.

This a project Nettie was working on while we were all knitting. I love the little circles. She is making a vest and is a very accomplished crafter. She had another project with her too and it was really cool. I can't wait to see more of her work.

Here I am (without make-up yucky!) and I am sporting a little scarf I made for a friend for her birthday. I just need to wash and block it before I give it to her. I really like this. It's perfect to wear with a light jacket.

I enjoyed myself meeting with the ladies that evening. I unfortunately can't make the next meeting due to travels for my job but I do like the group a lot.

Last night I had my scrapbook group meeting with the Midwest Scrapaholics of Chicagoland- Wheaton Chapter. They even celebrated my birthday with a cake!

Isn't it pretty! I love birthday cake! This one had tons of frosting too! Yummy! We devoured the whole thing and sat around with a major sugar buzz! LOL!

I didn't get any scrapbooking done. I did work on a page kit but I didn't work on completing a page. You see I am sick. It started out earlier this week with a scratchy throat and now has progressed into a sore throat, congestion and fatigue. Not a good combination. So right now I am drinking theraflu and tea. A small but noticeable blip on my good week.

Hopefully this weekend will be better. I want to work on my sewing really bad. I have my next project planned and ready to go. But I think I will take my sewing machine to a Singer place to see if they can figure out the bobbin issue for me. I really need to have that fixed. So send me some good wishes!

Until the next posting!

Buh Bye!

One good weekend

Well I am very happy with my weekend. I had plans and they were definitely fulfilled!

On Saturday it was my plan to go to a local sewing center and work on one of my projects. Well, if you read my last post you remember about me venting about scrapbook stores and free crops and people not purchasing during these events. I had to stop and think about that when I was going to the sewing center. I was not planning on buying anything. I have a very limited budget this month and it wasn't going to happen. So I decided not to go to the sewing center on general principle right? But I didn't let it stop me and I worked on my project from home. I am so proud of myself!


I decided to make this top.

I had some very pretty material I bought at Wal Mart I wanted to use. It's a very pretty purple. I think I paid around $2 a yard for it. I knew I didn't need anything fancy for this project. Here are some photos of my garment in progress












This is the pattern piece. It's only one for this project. I had a rough time pinning this fabric because its very stretchy. I had to keep smoothing the pattern and the tissue to make sure I got it correct.









This is the pattern cut out folded and ready to sew. There were only three seams to make for this top.







This is the first seam I worked on. I was supposed to stretch the material as I sewed but I forgot. Also I couldn't get my bobbin winder to work! I was so frustrated. I worked at it and worked at it. Finally I used one of my filled bobbins. I might need to take my machine in for repairs! RATSO!






This is the finished top! I think its cute. Very simple but has a cute style.









I highly recommend this pattern for anyone who is trying to get back to sewing. I made it in less than an hour (including cutting and sewing) and it was a definite feel good project. If I can find more inexpensive material like what I used I will definitely make more. The one downfall would be the edging. You have raw edges with no hemming which means you need to cut very straight. I do plan on going back and using my rotary cutter to clean up a few jagged edges. But overall I think its a good foray back into sewing. I had enough of this material left over to make another one so I will make one for my mom. Here is a cute picture of my mommy.

I spent Mother's Day with her. We went to church and then I went to her house and bought dinner and hung out with her. Unfortunately it rained most of Sunday off and on it was a bit miserable to go out. We had blowing rain. Yucky! But we hung out and watched television and answered many Happy Mother's Day calls and Happy Birthday calls from friends and family. I had my mom to take pictures of me. I don't know why her pictures always come out so crooked and weird. I try and I try and it just seems to get worse! LOL!

I forgot to mention Saturday night my friend Julie had her 50th birthday bash. I went and I was able to see many people I haven't seen for a long time. I usually hang out with my ski club monthly but since I have been traveling so much for work I hadn't been. It was good to see everyone and I received many birthday wishes. It was a great evening. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos. I was too busy eating, drinking and socializing. Too much fun!

Well I do have more crafty updates but I will save them for another time!

Smooches!