Projects Since 2010

Here's a collection of projects I've been working on since 2010. This will fill in some of the time gaps since my last 2010 post. I've dabbled in a little bit of everything.

Made a blanket for my friend's baby girl - 10.17.2010

Bailey's blanket: Wool Eater Blanket

Marram Hat, made for Max - 2.21.2011

Close-up of stitches

Slouchy Hat - 3.7.2011

Created a Bruins square, my own creation - 5.23.2011

I was cutting up t-shirts to celebrate the Bruins's win -  5.28.2011
You can make one of your own - directions here.

A little beer pong action

More cut-up tees. This one I designed myself -  6.10.2011

Close-up of braid details

Finished knitting my first top, but didn't sew it together yet - November 2011

Amigurumi Santa - 12.6.2011

Designed my Kindle's cover - 12.27.2011
Artwork from this blog. Custom cover made at M-Edge.

Inside of cover

Bird's Nest Throw Blanket

I made a blanket over a year ago for my then boyfriend. It was his Christmas present. I was going to block the blanket, but never did. It was in my possession when we broke up. I guess I'll have to gift this blanket somehow. Future blanket for a friend?

The pattern is by Lion Brand Yarns. It's called Bird's Nest Baby Throw. I just kept going and it's a bit bigger than a baby's blanket, but smaller than a full size adult blanket. I was thinking of adding some more rows to the ends to make it long enough for a twin size bed.

Flowers For Me?

Chris just came home and he bought me flowers. It was his way of saying Thank You for the sweets I made for his group. I couldn't find any of the vases so I put them in an extra water bottle.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

I entered the Cookie Bake-off Contest at work, but I didn't know what to make. While browsing the internet yesterday I can across this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars at the Southern Living website. I love chocolate chips and cheesecake. Put them together and wham! The perfect dessert.

I made a test batch for Chris's D&D group today. It's currently cooling on the wire rack. Before it goes into the fridge for 4 hours I'm going to drizzle more chocolate on the top. Here's a picture of it as of 9 am.

Oh noes! There are cracks in my cheesecake layer.

Looks like the top cracked from over baking. That happened to the cheesecake I made last weekend. I can't seem to get the hang of our gas oven.

This is what the end results should look like.
Picture from Southern Living's website.

Crocheted Lap Blanket - WIP

I've been working on this blanket on and off for the past 3 months. It's almost done - I'm currently weaving in the loose yarn ends. It's going to take forever... I'll post a picture when it's finally finished.

This pattern is from Crochet Today! magazine, Jan/Feb 2011 edition. You can also find the pattern online. It is called Snuggle Afghan.

Granny Square close-up

Half of the blanket on ottoman. 

Birthday!

My birthday was on Thursday, May 17. I want to thank my family and friends for all the love they showed me on my birthday and throughout the year. A co-worker bought breakfast for me, not knowing it was my birthday. My friends at work took me out to lunch at Samba in Framingham for sushi. My mom and sister sent me lovely cards that brought tears in my eyes. Those card writers definitely know how to stir up my emotions. (My family definitely knows how to pick out cards.) My neighbor, Milton, who's like a dad to me, sent me flowers. My fiance, C, bought us tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's Totem in Boston. His card is so true, too. Best day ever!

Love,
Patti

Flower Power Shoulder Bag

Today I wanted to share my new bag that I made two weeks ago. I'm always on the look out for cute and simple bags to wear when I'm out walking the dogs. It's big enough to hold my wallet, keys, phone, and other small items. There's also a zippered pocket in the front for easy access to cards or little bits of doggie treats. Here's it is!

I bought the fabric from Joann Fabrics. It is a home decor fabric.

Hanging up on a hook.

I used Butterick pattern B5728.

Source: butterick.mccall.com via Patti on Pinterest

Sewing Table

I bought a new sewing table in December and I love it! Bought it from Walmart.com for $100. Best purchase ever. I'm currently borrowing C's sewing machine. The chair's from IKEA. It actually belongs in the office, but I commandeer it for my sewing every now and then.

Sewing table situated in front of the TV. Perfect for watching my shows on Hulu Plus. Hi Kujo!

Sewing table from Walmart.com.

Apples and Pears Bag

I love how this bag came out. I used the pattern from Simplicity 2205. Here's some pictures of the before and after.

In the midst of sewing my bag together.

Caution: I'm learning to sew in a straight line. It's very hard.

Pockets! I love pockets.

Source: simplicity.com via Patti on Pinterest

Blog Updates

Hello, it's been a while. A real long while. Two years long really. Over the past few days I've been adding older posts to this blog. I've been transferring entries from my WordPress blog - Mile a Minute. I definitely learned a lesson from that little debacle.

The last few years of my life has gone by so fast. Here's a quick update. I got engaged in December 2011. My fiance, Chris, and I are currently getting ready for our July wedding. It's coming up really quick, but I believe it will all be fine in the end.

I've been working on a lot of different craft projects - knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, embroidering, and sewing. I bounce around from project to project. It's a wonder I get anything done.

I've been sewing lately and I'm currently finishing up a crocheted lap blanket. I can't wait to get the pictures up some time this week. So stay tuned!

Kujo sleeping with his paws on Phidan's bum. Love these boys.

ABCs

I'm back again. I thought I should start off with something fun since work's been a drag lately.

ABCs

A - Age: 24

B - Bed size: Full

C - Chore you hate: Vacuuming - my sister enjoys it because she likes to hear the dirty stuff being sucked into the vacuum

D - Day of the Week: I personally love Saturday since I was born on that day

E - Essential start to your day item: Some breakfast - bagels, cereal, or bacon, egg and cheese sandwich...

F - Favorite actor(s): Hm, can't really say any off the top of my head. I'll have to revisit this one.

G - Gold or Silver: Silver or white gold. The yellow isn't for me.

H - Height: 5'3" says my doc

I - Instruments you play(ed): Violin, a bunch of traditional Thai instruments, and a bit of guitar

J - Job title: Associate Mechanical Engineer

K - Kid(s): More like Pet(s): Kujo, a terrier mix who's a year and three months old

L - Living arrangements: I live with 3 roommates (2 guys, 1 girl) in a two floor house

M - Mom's name: Chinapat, but everyone calls her Pat

N - Nicknames: Patti, Fong, Bubbles, Pat (though I don't like being called Pat)

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendectomy back in 2003

P - Pet Peeve: Bad drivers. I complain about them everyday.

Q - Quotes you like: Dreams are necessary to life. ~ Anais Nin

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Sex - Female

T - Time you wake up: Usually 6 am on weekdays and 7 or 8 am on weekends

V - Vegetable you dislike: None that I can think of

W - Ways you run late: 1. Facebook in the morning 2. Forgetting to set the alarm 3. Kujo is slow to do his business in the morning

X - X-rays you've had done: Mouth - dentist made me do it, though I got a CT scan of my abdominal area when I have my appendix removed

Y - Yummy food you make (made): I love making Greek salad, Thai food (Rad Na and Kow Mun Gai), and I make a decent Eggplant Lasagna.

Z - Zodiac: Taurus - the reason why I'm dependable, practical, loving, bull-headed, stubborn, and romantic

Crocheted Baby Sweater Photos

Hello! I'm back with pictures of the finished product.

I just love the simple design of the sweater.

Close up.

I hope my friend likes it. I'm making a bunch of other baby related stuff for her. For now I'm going to work on a pretty lace project.

Crocheted Baby Sweater

So I started a new project. I'm not sure how big newborns are in size. This might be a problem since I'm crocheting a newborn sweater, but I crochet pretty tight. I knew in the back of my head that I should have gone one hook size up. Grr. Well, I'll make this my practice run and in the future I'll look up the right age to size dimensions.

Here's the link to the pattern: http://bundlesoflove.org/CrochetedBabySweater

On Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crocheted-baby-sweater

I will be posting pictures up but I have older pictures I need to get out from the back log of sorting through and posting up:

1. Picture from last summer.
2. Pictures from winter.
3. New pictures I took recently of Kujo.

My goal for today is to get my photos organized and up-to-date so I can feel better about myself. =)

Crazy Talk?

Okay, this might sound crazy, but I want to move posts from my WordPress site back to this blog. I don't think there's an easy way to do it other than by copying and pasting them one at a time, but I want to do it. Crazy? Maybe I need a reality check.

Tomorrow's Saturday. I will begin my crochet and knitting journey again. Oh this is just exciting but a bit scary since I haven't really touched my hook in a very long time. Wish me luck!

There Goes My Year...

I haven't posted anything new in a very long time. Where did the months go? I have no clue. All I've been doing is work, taking care of Kujo, studying for my Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and visiting my mom or my boyfriend every other week. I have about 4 or 5 crochet/knit projects on hold. They might be there for another week. My FE exam is this Saturday. After that's over I'll have my life back.

That means I get to crochet every night if I want to. Yay! I miss checking up on my favorite crochet/knit websites and blogs (see the list on the lower right corner). I have a huge yarn stash to get rid of before I move. Maybe I'll take a picture of everything after I move so I can show you the craziness that's living under my bed and in my closet.

My friend is having a baby, but she doesn't know if it's a boy or girl. I plan on making a blanket, hat, sweater, and booties set for her. I'm thinking the color green. I love green and purple. I have some baby yarn in that color but not enough for all those items I listed. Hm. I really don't want to go yarn shopping. I've been very good for the past 3 months on not buying new yarn.

Well here's to a new start. I'll write back if I start crocheting. =)

Back in the game

Okay, I'm back to crocheting and knitting! With over $500 worth of yarn stashed around my apartment, I better be doing something with it. I am 99% done with a crocheted hat/scarf combo that I made for my mom to sell. I'm currently working on a knitted slouchy hat. The pattern is lovely and I can't wait to finish it. I've never knitted a hat before. It's looking good so far.

Back to tv and knitting! Kujo's just been staring me down all day.

Keeping Track of Books

Okay, I have a confession to make. I used to have a spreadsheet of all the books I own. I was keeping up with it until May when I went to Thailand. It seems that after Thailand I pretty much stopped doing everything that I used to do for better or worse. I'm not on facebook 24/7 anymore and I barely update my photos. I still tweet, but less often. I used to crochet like a fiend, but now I can't find the energy to do so. I used to blog all the time, now I update maybe once a month.

Part of it has something to do with starting a full-time job and getting a puppy. I can't blame Kujo for my laziness. It's just me. I got sick of the internet after experiencing Thailand for a month essentially without it. Maybe I have less to say? Nah, I doubt it. I just don't feel like typing it all out right now.

About that spreadsheet... I need to find it and update it soon. I have way too many books that I haven't kept track of.

And I'm Back

Okay, so I finally found something worth making. I am making a blanket for Project Linus. Yay! I chose a pink and white color scheme and it's coming out really good. It's really easy to make. I'll post some pictures after I get my online life (facebook photo albums) in order. So bear with me!

No Motivation to Crochet

Man, I have no clue what's wrong with me. I haven't touch yarn in over 3 months. Eh. I can't seem to get myself back into it. It's probably because I have no inspiration. Nothing to make me go... "I really want to make that!" Well, I subscribed to Crochet Today! magazine today. Hopefully that will kick start my yarn obsession again.

Back to Blogger

Okay, I'm back. My little love affair with Wordpress didn't last that long. I got frustrated with how slow my computer and maybe the website took to process anything. Bear with me as I transition back to blogger and follow my new blog: My Little Kujo.

~ Patti