Cap'n Mermaiden's

Guess what I just got!

Yes, that is a hairpin lace tool, with my first few stitches on it. :D

Yippie!!! I visited the mil's end bin at AC Moore this weekend, and here's what I came away with. Yarn for my afghan! Now I have everything I need to get started!

$2.46, $3.59, and $3.59. This is actually more than is needed, though none of it is varigated. Heck, for this price, I could still buy the varigated and use the extra blue/green on other stuff and consider it a good deal. ;)

Plus, my mom is just too cool. I tell her I'm looking for something, and she goes to the weekend yard sales and finds it. She came home with a big bundle of sheets she got for super cheap that I can cut up to make rugs with. :D


And, she has procured a collection of blue Wal-Mart bags from my aunt that I am going to use to make a tote bag. I have tons of white ones, and just enough blue for the stripe, so I'll just vice versa the pattern.

I love my Crochet-A-Day calendar. :)

My Recent Purchases!

2 of these

for my long hooded cloak

2.2 POUNDS, just look at how huge this cone is beside the one from above, is

I bought ummmm. 12 of these. ^_^; (the purple, below)

Plus These,
which I have finished!!! (which means it's pictured in my Webshots album / link to the top left somewhere)

Annnddd.... I bought a quantity of 8 of these beauties:
Well, they were cheap!

Again with the color. I dunno what to do with these yet but they were 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby, and I wanted to try them out.
Finally, here are a few more Hancock Fabrics 1/2 price purchases :D I liked the pink skeins of the mohair/wool/acrylic blend so much I had to go back for the blues too. And I was so mad I never got a yellow cotton that I got one of those too. Mmm, and all that 1/2 price Chenelle..... I wouldda bought it the first time but she kept ringing it up wrong!

trip 1
With the off brand of "fun fur" for 75 cents, why not?? I can use it on some Java Jackets, or something. :)

trip 2 (more balls of the blue than show though, heh)

Earbud Cozy

Or, my co-worker has found it to be the perfect size to hold a Secure ID token (Shiva) card. LOL! I'm going to alter the pattern also to make one with a pouch on front to hold business cards.

It's simple, but hey, it's the first pattern I have designed by myself from scratch! :)


There are patterns for pouches for your cellphone, your MP3 player, and a cozy for just about everything else, but I wanted a safe and cozy place to store my nice earbuds! Never seen a pattern for something like this, so I grabbed some yarn and a hook and sat down. Here it is, the result of trying it out.

Chain 10.
SC across, turn, chain 1.
Repeat until you have 20 rows.
Without breaking the yarn, chain about 17.
Turn and SC back across the chain. Slip-stitch the chain into a ring, then SC the end onto the edge of the work.
Continue working 4 more rows of SC now, working back across the main part of the work.
At the end, fold the work over so that the top flap portion (the last 4 rows above your loop) extends up in position.
Now, slip-stitch your way around the work , stitching the 2 sides together once you reach where they overlap.
Stitch all the way around until you meet where your slip-stitches began, then finish it off.

I chose to sew on some velcro to close it, but you could use snaps or a button if you like.

A snap on each edge helps ensure the flap won't stretch open when you attach the loop to something, etc. (I just hate hand-sewing so they're not as sturdy for me as the velcro machine-sewed in, LOL.)

Instead of making the loop, you also might opt to attach a clasp like these which I found at Wal-Mart, instead -


This pic is not of a particularly good pouch, nor is it a finished item, but here's one example of a hook sewn right in :)

Blah! I can't post all the things I've finished yet, since most of them are for the Crochetville Swap and I'd hate to ruin my swap partner's surprise if she stopped by. hehe

If you are NOT Chrome Kitty, then please do feel free to browse my gallery! ;)
http://mermaiden.net/Gallery/Crochet/
Also displayed in my Webshots gallery (starting on bottom of pg 1)
http://community.webshots.com/album/550266558KCCdNQ

I'm so lucky my parents love to go yard sale surfing. I just don't have the... whatever it takes in order to get up and out early enough to find anything at them, nor the patience to do so, I suppose. I asked my mom if she would be on the lookout for anyone clearing out yarn or other crochet-related goods. Today she came home with 4 bags bursting yarn and crochet thread! Just look at this!

2 skeins of wool! Woohoo!! (and a couple free pattern books... one with each bag hee) A few skeins of baby/finger yarn, and several other nice acrylic/wool, etc.

As you can see, the previous owner of this thread used it well. There were a few finished goodies tucked within! Now that I have some thread, I picked up some steel hooks while I was at Wal Mart. :) Who knows, maybe I too could even be a threadie eventually...

Thanks to my Fairy Godmother and my Lipstick scarves patterns, and the sale at Hobby Lobby on ribbon yarns!, I have been making several Lipstick Diva scarves the past few days. They're so fast and easy, it takes probably an hour to an hour and a half to make one! I can't wait to get more eyelash yarns to make a scarf from every color of ribbon yarn I bought. Here are the first ones:

Here's the next. I haven't added the fringe yet. I'm still not really sure about how the fringe looks...

Here are just a "few" more yarns I want to make more of these with!

Eyeglass case, #1. My very first finished item! :) I gave it to my mom for Mother's Day.

I made a 2nd one for myself.

This was my next pattern. It is a cell phone holder, with carrying strap.

The very first project I started is a Shells and V's pattern from about.com. I started it with some Red Heart worsted weight yarn at first. I was doing alright with it, but it just wasn't turning out quite like I had wanted, so I picked up a skein of Red Heart's Soft Baby (sport weight yarn), in Seashore Print color, and began again after I felt I had gotten familiar enough with the stitches to actually complete something. Wow, the difference in yarns was amazing. I regained fervor in working on the scarf, almost entirely while at work between phone calls and my other many Heldesk duties, and completed it on the 18th. It was my first project begun, but not my first completed. Actually, I finished the final touches of it on the 21st. I added fringe to it, along with some mini pop-poms.

Here is a closer-up shot.

(This is just a humerous (hopefully LOL) ramble. Yes, I realize the art of weaving fabric has been around for many a century. And I realize that men crochet too. But like I said, it's just a silly post.)

Yarn! Why is is so addictive?

What is it about crochet that draws women in and keeps them there the way it does? I blame it all on yarn. There are so many colors, and textures, and patterns, and... oh! There's just so much to absorb us, isn't there? You can't even see it coming until it's too late, either.

Know what I blame it on? MEN! Yes that's right. They KNOW that we are suckers for pretty colors and patterns and multi-textured things, and coordinating and making things just so. They must be the ones who did this to us! I know why, too. And here's my theory to back up this theory! They did this to us because they knew we'd get all wrapped up in our yarn, and we'd shut up and leave them alone for a while. They made these things, and presented them to us, and so, we crochet!

HEHEHEHE