From way back when!

While I was going through some things on my computer today, I found some photos of the first few things that I made when I first learned to crochet. These were all crocheted for our charity group at work.

From Stitch' N' Bitch

From the Lion Brand website, I think!

I got this pattern from somewhere and added my own color flair.

My first attempt at treble crochet.

It's amazing how far I've come with my fiber crafts in the last few years....crochet being my gateway drug so to speak!

OK, so it's a little crafty

I have been absolutely horrible about posting my crafty endeavors recently so I am making a promise that I will take pictures of the work in progress on my loom this evening! I'm making what is a mostly straight scarf-type-thing using some of the yarn I recycled and dyed with Kool Aid a while back. I'm quite happy with it so far although been playing with tension and neat edges etc. I also spent an hour in the library yesterday reading through some books on rigid heddle weaving to make sure I was on the right track. My husband was very patient as I explained to him how it all worked and what the difference was between the warp and the weft. I'm convinced he secretly wants to try it. ;)

As a bit of fun this morning, I found a website where you can squirrelize your photos. Now, what on earth is that about? Here is the original article, and here is my wedding photo - complete with squirrel.
Ridiculous I know, but it's still making me giggle. You too can add a squirrel on this site. Enjoy!

I am a big nerd

It has to be said that one of the reasons I enjoy Facebook is on account of some of the silly games that can be played on their interface. The most recent one to catch my attention is "Restaurant City", which has apparently become quite the popular game. The basic theme being that you build a restaurant (very Sims style) and you can hire your friends to work for you, collect ingredients to make dishes, even grow ingredients in the little plot just outside the restaurant. Here's my little restaurant right now. The most intriguing thing about this game to me is the fact that there's a nice open bathroom for the little visiting avatars to pee in (left side of the picture). My husband has been harrassing me to put a sink in there for days, not that it's a game requirement, but definitely makes me feel better about the situation. I think I'm planning on changing the flooring soon, but haven't decided what to do yet.

So, if you're on Facebook and want to befriend me within this game, leave a comment here telling me how to find you. You each get a free ingredient for visiting each other, plus it's an extra person to trade ingredients with!

Looming on the horizon

Literally! Since I got my little potholder loom, the concept of weaving beautiful scarves, dishtowels, bags etc. has been at the forefront of my crafting brain. Hubby still hasn't found a job yet so funds are limited but I took a look at my PayPal account and decided that I do have a little bit of money to spend on a used loom. Today, I finally knuckled down and found a 20" vintage rigid heddle loom for $35 that with any luck will be here in the middle of next week! I took a trip to the library on my lunch break and flipped through the basics of all 3 weaving books they had on the shelves. I'm really anxious to get started on this - can you tell?

There's only one person I know that used to weave, and she happens to be in my office. When she told her loom (one of the crazy professional $3000 ones), she put a ton of weaving yarns in a box for the knitting group at work in the hope that somebody may be able to use it in the future. Well, as soon as the loom arrives, that box of weaving yarn will be mine to play with, practice and become a weaving master! :)