A Goal Accomplished

So, in my New Year's Resolutions for this year, I set a goal to crochet something for myself. Got that done, and I'm pretty happy about that.

I still don't know quite what to think of it, but it did use up two skeins of extra yarn I had in my closet. I've gotten a lot of compliments on the bag, so maybe it looks better than I think it does. And I probably think it doesn't look as fantastic as I was expecting because I made it and know what little mistakes I made. 

But hey, a goal checked off the list.

One down.

And for those of you who didn't already know, I did actually compete in Dancesport a few weeks ago. So there's another goal checked off the list.

Two down.

And nineteen more to go! We'll see how I do.

The Holiday Projects

I really enjoyed this holiday season.  I made a lot of stuff, a bunch of which I didn't get pictures of, but a bunch that I did.  No pictures of Christmas Day, though.  Everyone forgot to get their cameras out.  And I spent New Years Eve as usual, lounging around my house and reading a good book.  I did go out to eat at Maddox with my parents; Maddox is the only place for a good hamburger.  I'll miss it when I have to go back to school.

Without further ado, here's my slew of pictures.

No slew of pictures would be complete without some of my cat.  He got in the Christmas spirit, too.  The picture directly above this text is him sitting on my mom's sewing chair in my mom's sewing room, where I finished up a bunch of my projects, and he sat and watched.

I crocheted my Grandma Alice a rug.  I crocheted so much in a week that my hand hurt this year.

On my way to pick up my brother for the Jazz game, I snapped this picture of Temple Square Lights.

My mom had surgery last week, and the Relief Society brought over dinner for two nights in a row, so I made thank you cards.

Then came something I'm really proud of.  I made my mom a calendar for the first time ever.  My brother and I avoided buying a calendar like the plague this year because last Christmas we both bought her the exact same calendar.  I made him take his back because mine was already wrapped and under the tree, unlike his.  So this year, when I found out neither of us had purchased a calendar for my mom, I went about making her one.  It got finished yesterday.

This is possibly my favorite page.

Hope you all had as great a holiday season as I did.

The Mother's Day Project

Don't mind the red streak next to the afghan.  That's a scarf (which will used as an example later).

And don't mind the shadows.  I was too lazy to figure out how to remove my shadow from the picture.

Savory Salsa Afghan close-up (finally, Chelsea, you got to the pattern name.)

So, this last summer, there was a huge yarn sale at Michaels.  I have a hard time resisting such sales when I find out about them.  So, I asked my mom which afghan she would like to have.  She chose this one.  I didn't get to it in time for Christmas, and so I thought, well, how about Mother's Day?  And didn't get started on it until late February/early March.  I couldn't just sit down and get it done in a couple of weeks, what with school and all, so it sat for a couple weeks after I'd done the base row.

And in that time, I forgot which size hook I had used.  I didn't have the hook size that the pattern called for, so I had used a .5 gauge difference.  When I started up the afghan again, I decided I'd probably used a .5 size larger hook.  About nine rows in, I realized I'd made the wrong choice.  That's a problem, because each row has to be fastened off (meaning I have to cut the yarn and finish off each end.  It's really hard to undo that.).  I didn't want to start over, so I decided to try switching back to the smaller hook to fix the problem.  Well, it stopped the twirling (those 12 rows looked like my scarf), but I didn't think about the difference in length.

Although I averted having to start again by using the smaller hook, I'd messed things up at the base length-wise.  The thing twirled because it kept getting larger and the base couldn't handle that.  Using a smaller hook didn't fix the addition of length.  So, the base is about a foot shorter than the rest of the afghan.  You can sort of tell if you lay it out flat, because the thing curves.  You can really tell when you fold it up neat and the bottom is smaller than the top.

Still, it looks nice.  If my mom just folds the thing in half and drapes it over something (like I did in my picture.  See, there was a reason for that) no one will know the difference unless they look too close.  I'm still giving it to her, because I worked hard on it, and I think she'll appreciate knowing that her daughter got over perfectionist ways and gave it to her despite the mistake.  And it's nice and warm, and will make a good throw to have over her while reading books.  So, that's my third afghan made, and the first one that I've ever made a big mistake on ("Don't people usually say that about their first afghan, Chelsea?"  Yes, but apparently I just decided to get in on that idea two afghans late.).

Sometimes I Get Crafty

My Grandma Vickie taught me how to crochet when I was seven.  Just the basic stitches--it's hard to teach a seven year old much more without losing her attention.  I got into it for awhile, then forgot about it.  When my Grandma Penny bought me a "learn to crochet" book for Christmas when I was about twelve, I relearned and started again.  Soon, however, the novelty wore off, since I didn't have the patience to learn how to do the harder patterns in the book.

Nearly a decade later, I started up again.  When I was in Monterey without Nik I had a lot of time on my hands.  I spent most of it on homework, playing video games, taking walks in the mists of Monterey, eating Chinese food (or, when I wasn't in the mood for that, making something cheap at home) while watching movies and playing on facebook.  However, this routine became slightly boring, as one can only imagine after weeks of it.  So, I remembered my old hobby, and also remembered all the yarn that my mom bought me for an afghan sitting in my craft/game room.  I took up the book I had bought in college (during that time I also had a brief crochet spurt, and bought a new beginner's book), and started in on the afghan.  It took me months to do.  I watched every episode of the original Star Trek series while doing it, and still had a third of the afghan to go.

The activity kept me from going insane.  After the fiasco that led to my leaving, in an effort to try and keep myself together/put myself back together, I continued work on the afghan.  I wasn't going to let it go unfinished because of where I started it.  I did get it finished, and it now sits in my family's cabin up at Bear Lake.  I don't have any pictures of it, but if I remember and you guys want to see it, I'll take a picture this summer and put it up for you all.

While in Monterey, I had bought yarn for several new projects.  I finished a baby blanket, a couple of burp cloths, and a play rug for my mom to take home with her (she and my Grandma Alice came out to visit) while I was in Monterey, but I had a couple more projects sitting in boxes that I hadn't begun.  I decided to start one of these projects right before I came to Provo.  I finished it today.

Don't mind the printer and backpack in the background.  I didn't have a ton of room to properly showcase my work.

This afghan didn't take me near as long to make.  I've become a more seasoned crocheter.  The pictures don't really due the beauty of the afghan justice.  If you're ever over to my house, you want to see it, and I have it with me, then you can truly admire how much work it takes to make something like this look good.  Since I'm already bragging, I guess I'll end with saying how proud I am that I actually finished this.  Lately I haven't been so great at finishing things I start, so I this is a big deal for me.