New Year's Eve 2009

I've decided on which book of squares I want to make. I'm going to use Leisure Arts 63 Easy to Crochet Pattern Stitches Combine to Make an Heirloom Afghan. I know it's an old one, but in my effort to follow things through to completion in 2010, I need to start with this leaflet. I purchased it years ago and made a few of the squares, then stopped. So this time, I'm going to finish it! I'll let everyone follow my progress by posting pictures of each square as it's completed. I have some Red Heart Fleck that I'm going to use - I think it'll make a pretty afghan.



I recently finished a Hobo Bag - the pattern is from Lion Brand - the yarn is Peaches and Creme Cotton Yarn. I made some modifications to the pattern - the strap was too short to throw over my shoulder, so I added several additional rows. I don't have a problem completing everything I start, just some projects. I love to crochet, but tend to get bored, so I normally have several projects going on at once.




Another one of those projects is this afghan. It's a black and yellow rectangle granny pattern made from Red Heart TLC Ultra Soft yarn. I love Red Heart yarn, but I do not like this yarn at all! It tends to split. I bought a huge amount of this yarn in black and yellow when a local craft store closed. My plan was to make an afghan for my queen size bed. I did finish it - it was granny squares and was really pretty and lightweight, so it was great for Southwest Florida. But it stretched like crazy! After washing and drying, I would place it on the bed and within two days, all sides were dragging on the ground. It was the incredible growing blanket! I eventually gave it to a neighbor who does animal rescues. But I still had a lot of the yarn remaining. I've made 2 smaller afghans - still need to list them on Etsy or Artfire - and have started the afghan pictured. This afghan will use up the last of the yarn - finally!

Everyone have a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful 2010!

Project for 2010

Wow! It's been over a year since my last post. I'm going to try to do better this coming year.

I've seen several blogs where the blogger is working through a crochet blocks book - showing each block as it's completed. I'm seriously considering doing the same thing this coming year. I have several books to choose from - just need to decide. I have plenty of yarn to use up, so I can use up some of my stash and make some interesting squares!

I'll keep you posted - I want to start this project on January 1st!

Friday

So I'm not real original with my titles - hopefully that will change.

I've added Etsy Mini to the sidebar this morning to show off some of the goodies in my store. What is Etsy, you ask? well, it's a great site that allows artisans to sell their handmade wares. Everyone there is very supportive of each other. I've only had 3 sales so far. I have more items to add, just need to take pictures and write the descriptions.

I belong to two Etsy Teams (groups with similar interests or from a particular area) - FEST, which is short for Florida Esty Street Team and SWFHandmade - Southwest Florida Handmade. As I get more comfortable with blogging, I'll feature some of our members. Maybe pick a day and make it a weekly thing. In this economy we can all use a little help in our stores!

I've been searching for the perfect round dishcloth and found one that sort of met the criteria - I can't explain what that criteria was, I just knew it when I found it. So, I found one that was close to what I wanted and made some modifications. I've written up the pattern and it's for sale in my etsy shop - a picture of the finished dishcloth is at the end of this post. It's time to do the daily search for a job - more later.

First Post

I thought it was time to take the plunge and start a blog.

A little about me...
I'm currently unemployed, I was laid off from a position with a homebuilder at the end of August. The prospects of a new job seem to be pretty dim. I've been applying for jobs and have had no responses other than one company who emailed me to let me know they had decided to not fill the position at this time. Great.

So, instead of dwelling on this, I've thrown myself into cleaning up 24 years of collected stuff around the house - some stuff goes on eBay and some stuff gets donated and some just gets tossed. I am trying to recycle whatever I can.

I've also been busy crocheting items for my Etsy shop - analea.esty.com. At first the only items I had for sale were afghans, but I've added coasters and scrubbies and a dishcloth pattern. It took me longer to get the pattern written properly than it took to make the dishcloth!

My husband of 21 years has a computer business - pcBusted ? - cool name, huh? Business is sporadic, several jobs one week, none the next. So we need to come up with some way to build his business. He's been very supportive of my yarn addiction, just as I am of his computer addiction!

That's all for now - maybe blogging will be therapeutic - I really don't like dwelling on wondering when I'll find another job.