Uneventful....sorta

I wish I was writing this with lots of fun new pictures to share of all the great things I've been working on, creating and have finished....but I have none of those things to share! It's not that I've been doing nothing though - Jon and I went camping for a 2nd time at Loft Mountain last weekend so all the prep work of packing happened last week, we were out being one with nature after leaving straight from work on Friday afternoon until returning on Sunday afternoon when I said I was going to lay down just to catch up on Private Practice and pretty much never got up again (other than to shower all the camping smells away!)

I did spend about 2 hours on Sunday evening trying to learn the new pattern for a crocheted scarf. After 2 hours I was annoyed when I found a mistake made in both squares I had completed and I quit for the night. Monday morning I had some spare time before work and I was able to tear apart the 2 squares that I'd messed up the night before and pretty redid all of it w/ in 20 min! I like how it's turning out, and am enjoying crocheting it now that I understand the pattern and all it's many changes the more I keep doing it.

Getting started on a new project of course means that I sat at work yesterday obsessing about all I wanted to be making (even thought I didn't really have the time yesterday to be thinking such things at work with all that I had going on). I opted after work last night to head out to ACMoore, JoAnns and Michaels to pick up some supplies because I hadn't really been since like late July and I was getting the "itch" (plus I was sick of throwing away my great coupons each and every week!). Off I went while Jon was a class thinking I'd be home with plenty of time to work on my new love affair scarf....

Unfortunately I didn't get home until close to 8:20 and had the pesky task of unpacking from camping which I had promised Jon I would get done while he was at class...that and do the sink full of dishes and take a shower thanks to the lovely late September, relentless HUMIDITY that refuses to leave the region. I did all this work as quickly as I possibly could on my commercial breaks of Dancing with the Stars (which thanks to Jennifer Grey being on this year, has become a new favorite show for me) so that I could get some crocheting in before Jon got home and things turned into "pay attention to me" and "I don't want to watch this"....I did a bit but by 9:30ish the crazy day of travel reservations at work, my shopping adventures in VA and the racing around to get my work down had taken it's toll and I couldn't deal with sitting upright AND using my hands....

Tonight, well tonight is gonna be different! I'm leaving here and praying for as little traffic as possible - given the shooting on U St. today, right in my commute path the drive may be a disaster. I am hoping to get a work out in and then after dinner am sitting my little butt on the couch with a drink and am crocheting the night away! This will of course only be able to happen during commercial breaks come 8 p.m. but that's ok....I'm gonna get my work done quickly so that I can make some concentrated progress before Britney/Brittany makes it FAR to hard for me to concentrate!

Happy TuesGLEEday everyone, and Happy Crafting!

Hodgepodge Combination - it's everything but the kitchen sink!

I have not been good about updating on the work I've done lately....these are the pictures I've taken after completing each project and had them sitting here waiting for me to post, and it never happens..."work" always gets in the way! So here is what I did in August (I'm pretty sure it was all in August):

1. I wanted to make a case for my iPod...yes, I have a case on my iPod but there is nothing protecting the case from getting scratched up where it's protecting the screen from getting scratched up! Yes, I'm just that OCD. In some alternate universe I thought that after only sewing for a month I could making this without a pattern....this led to the picture below and a very stressful evening!

No, it doesn't necessarily look bad, but it was definitely not right!

I found a pattern online that I loved so I went out and bought some new material and after working on it for 2 nights after work I had this:

It's very cute, it does the job it's destined to do and looks pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. I used flannel thinking it would be extra soft for the iPod. Lesson learned: if using flannel for this pattern do NOT use batting...it ended up so thick on the seams once turned right side out that where I stitched was the furthest out I could get for the top stitch - this makes the case much larger looking than it really needs to be.

Dear future self: if you decide to make this again with flannel and insist on using batting, cut the pattern larger so that you can sew at a larger seam allowance. Yes this may be wasteful but it will allow more room for trimming excess batting out and you may actually be able to get this top seam closer to the edge.

2. Next, I thought it would be fun to make Mom and I matching shorts for relaxing in the hotel room during the August trip. I already had the material to make them for both of us, so why not make them now while it's still summer and hot enough out for shorts. She was very surprised and loves them, but it was a lot of work working on 2 pair at the same time - not sure I'd ever do it that way again. I did make my pair a bit shorter this time (still not as short as the pattern seems to want them to me - seriously, I'm not 18 anymore, I like my butt cheeks to be covered when I'm relaxing)

3. I ordered the material for the skirt pictured below online over the summer and was in LOVE with it when it arrived. I finally wanted to make the skirt (I don't love my skirt pattern so was putting it off a bit). I of course on like Sunday at 3:00 p.m. decided that I must wear it to work that Tuesday prior to going out of town. I sewed it all up on Sunday and had it ready to be worn on Tuesday. That's the good thing about making skirts vs. pants/shorts, lots less to hem w/o 2 legs :-) Unfortunately Monday night rolled around and I checked the weather for the following day before going to sleep and it was barely going to be 70 degrees the following day.....after the record heat we've had in DC this summer, 70 is FAR TOO COLD for a skirt and short sleeve shirt. So it still sits in my bedroom waiting to be worn....

It's already the middle of September and my days for wearing skirts are coming to a close. I did see that CWC mentioned this a.m. that there is a chance that it'll be back up near 90 or higher a couple of days next week so I think I most definitely need to make this outfit happen before I have to wait for Spring!

A good portion of tomorrow needs to be spent being domestic (grocery shopping, laundry, picking up, unpacking, etc. etc. etc) If nothing else I'm hoping to get all that sh*t done tomorrow so that I can spend Sunday relaxing/crafting. I have many things that I've been wanting to work on all week but have been too tired each night when I get home. It's also the middle of Sept which means it's time for me to get into the mind set for "3 months until Christmas" (a bit more, but I will need some time to wrap and travel home). Lots and lots of supplies for all these gifts have already been purchased, I just need to actually work on them!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Hope to be up to date and have an update on the weekends progress by Monday!