Project 3 carries into Week 4

A little bit of last week's projects will carry over into next week...

- The Media Purge from last week continues: get rid of 5 things and take the sell box to Half Price Books

- Reading: read one of the books I borrowed from Caitlin - I'm through chapter 8 now, and I'm amending this goal to reading one chapter each night until I'm done.

- Crafty Goal: Add three rows (12 squares) to my blanket to complete the first pattern - see, even I got mixed up on this one because I managed to do 12 squares before I realized that three rows would be 18 squares, so I still have six more squares left to go.  I'm just excited to get this done so I can lay out the rest of the pattern and get cracking! 

This coming week is packed full of things to do, but I probably won't be working much this week as the family I work for have relatives visiting.  This will leave plenty of time for all these things... I hope.

Thursday is Festival of Nations at Richard's school, and we just finished prepping the dough for the spiral cookies we're going to bake.  Saturday is the Midwest Gaming Classic which we're attending with some of Richard's colleagues before we all go to the best Chinese restaurant for lunch and before I head off for a night of work.

Creative Endeavors: Spiral Blanket

I must admit, I started this blanket some time ago and now I'm a little stalled.  Since I started the blanket as an experiment I didn't buy all the yarn I would need for a full size afghan, instead, assured by a sales associate that Sugar N' Cream yarn colors are never discontinued, I bought a few skeins of each color and got started.

Lo and behond, when I've finally gotten into the swing of things and perfected the pattern to get exactly what I wanted I go back to buy the rest of the yarn and... there isn't any.  It's gone.  I picked four colors for the spirals - sage, country red, country yellow, and country blue - and there is not a single country color left.  I can still find the sage and the soft ecru I'm using to join the spirals since they are some of the staple colors that are always available.

After some intense searching, and dropping in on every Michaels, JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby we've passed on every road trip, I managed to get enough of the country yellow and country red.  The one color missing from every place we've gone is the country blue and now I'm down to less than half a skein and I'm going to have to resign myself to paying full price ($2/skein) online with $8 for shipping to get the rest of the yarn.  This little fact turns this project from affordable to a bit more expensive than I expected.

You should know that I'm a coupon girl.  I've been known to make Richard come in with me to buy a second skein of yarn in a separate transaction just to use a second 40% off coupon at the craft store.  I rarely pay full price for anything because stretching our dollars has become second nature and every penny puts us just a little bit ahead in our savings.

We're still trying to find a house to buy, which hasn't been the easiest process and has left me a little jaded.  But, as my father said at dinner this past Saturday, we will never find a better market in which to purchase property.  But that is a discussion for another time.

The pattern I'm working from is from the blog quarter of an inch, and although I admit I changed some stitches around I'm not sure I could ever tell you what exactly was changed as the circles have now become so easy and automatic.  My only goal is to finish this blanket by the end of 2010 because I think one big project a year is enough, especially since I've been working hard on more cupcakes and getting started on this year's hat and scarf, and with the cold weather coming fast I'd better get cracking!

Monday Goals: 6 September - 13 September

So I'm going back to my weekly routine of setting a few achievable goals and to keep myself honest, and motivated, I'm going to be posting them here. They all fit into neat little categories, so this should go quick.

Make: crochet five cupcakes (ten cupcakes in the next two weeks)

Home: organize the office/spare bedroom. With all the furniture moving around lately it has become a bit of a disaster.

Food: Richard and I have the goal of making one new dish each week and this week that is Chicken Caesar Tetrazzini.

Photography: 1) scan one roll of film or one set of slides and 2) take photographs of two projects (this week: train case & crocheted cupcakes!)

Other: Turn in application to become a vendor at the October Maxwell Street Days in Cedarburg

***update: I've already crocheted one and a half frostings and one cupcake bottom, so if I keep up this pace this should be a breeze!

Inspiration Projects

I feel like I draw inspiration from just about anywhere, but for the last month since I've been stuck inside with a back injury I'll admit that most of my inspiration is found online. While I've been keeping myself busy with projects like reorganizing the office/extra bedroom (and I think it's finally in a configuration that is a little more conducive to work) I've also been looking at other people's craft projects and decorating for inspiration.

I've also been crocheting an amazing amount of items - a case for my new digital camera (with my first buttonhole!), two cases for other people's ipods, more baby hats than I know babies, and a whole mess of play food/pincushion cupcakes. I'm sure all the theme of the crafting photos I've been looking at lately has to do with my penchant for crochet projects.


I'm planning to make a blanket based on this pattern from The Yvestown Blog out of cotton for a light summer throw (ah, summer.) and I really can't wait to get started.

In general I'm one of those people who just likes to make things. It's a little cliche but I find it cathartic to always have my hands busy and at the end have something I have managed to make myself. For this reason I love to learn new methods and new projects, so if you've got something you think I should try - let me know. Especially if it's something that will keep me busy while my back heals.