Love Bug

I've always had this really bad habit of not starting on holiday crafting until far too close to that specific holiday to realistically finishing every anything in time.  Somewhere around March or April 2014, I realized I should already be working on Summer crafting so that in the summer I would be working on Halloween crafting etc.  I always see fabric and crafting supplies at JoAnns many seasons out, and I know exactly why, I've just never been good at implementing this into my every day crafting.

I'm trying to be better this year, and in realizing that it's just a little over a month until Valentine's Day, and the fact that I got out my Valentine's Day decorations last weekend means I've got the BUG to start some new Valentine's stuff!

I was super duper excited when I got these finished last year, and loved them as much as I remember as soon as I got them out this year.  Here is their new location for 2015 - between the 2 windows in our current "living room"

don't mind our only-primed walls and lack of framing around the windows - this room will one day be a child's bedroom, and isn't close to being finished.  For now we are just loving it as our own space outside of our bedroom for watching TV, lounging and crocheting!

I tried to be all artist in the photos I took this morning.  Then I got to work and looked at them more closely.  Good grief, between the icky morning light, grainy cell phone photo and seeing how curled all my hearts are I'm definitely disappointed in this quick attempt at taking good photos on my way out the door! LOL

I saw the pattern to make these ADORABLE stuffed Hershey Kisses last year, printed out the pattern, bought some white ribbon when I couldn't find my stash, and, in true form, never even started one! This year, I'm gonna make these happen.

Sarah, over at Repeat Crafter Me is one of my top 5 favorite pattern designers/crochets/bloggers out there!  I use and reuse her patterns all the time, and always get excited when she posts a new pattern.  When she posted this key chain on Wednesday, talking about a crochet version coming the following day, I couldn't wait to see it.  Trust me, it did NOT disappoint.  How cute is THIS!  Can't stand it cute if you ask me!  Now I personally could never put this on my actual key chain and run the rick of ruining him, but I have loads of ideas for other places he could live.

High school musical rehearsals are in full gear around here, and I've been asked to choreograph the shows at two different schools this year.  While it's an honor to be asked, I've definitely got a full plate with coming up with the choreography and then I spend most of my week nights at each of the schools teaching the kids.  This means I have zero "free" time to crochet right now so it may be a bit before I have much finished to share (or even give a sneak peak)!  Hopefully within a week or so I'll have more of the choreography set so that I can spend either my lunch hour or a bit of time after work crocheting again vs. choreographing :-)

I leave you today with this really cute article.  It was a sponsored post on the Facebook page, and it made me smile.  Clearly all of this transfers over to crocheting pretty well!

"excuses" and Christmas crocheting

I'm just going to go ahead and ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything since March.... there are about 500 reasons why this is.
Okay maybe not 500, maybe it's closer to 10....in the past 9+ months I have (in no particular order):

1. changed positions (and desk locations) at my company, not once but twice

2. very effectively ran a super busy 1st summer for Jonathan and I at Panama Rocks Scenic Park

Opening Weekend

3. have performed in 3 shows, and choreographed 2 others in addition to 2 solo performances over the summer

May 2014 

October 2014

If you were paying attention, I mentioned involvement with 6 shows and only showed photos for 3. In addition to the ones shows above, I choreographed "Annie Get Your Gun" for a local high school, performed in a theatre fundraiser called "Home for the Holidays" and choreographed "Miracle in Bedford Falls" for the Lucille Ball Little Theatre"

4. taken on a Board of Directors position with the Lucille Ball Little Theatre of Jamestown, and began actively managing their website and Facebook page

5. took a trip to Walt Disney World with Jonathan to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my 30th birthday - I could add about a bazillion pictures here that were taken, but I'll spare you!

Lunch on my Birthday was at Cinderella's Royal Table - IN Cinderella's Castle... DREAM.COME.TRUE.

Mickey Ice Cream is the best!  Really everything "Mickey-shaped" just tastes better!

6. continued working on the house remodel, which for my part usually is just about me moving boxes, reorganizing and excitingly getting to put things away.  Again I could show a million pictures here of our work in progress but they're probably boring to you since it's not your house, and really it barely looks as though much as changed.  I'll save them for now!

7. Celebrated our 3-year Wedding Anniversary (and 10 years together)

8. took a very last minute trip to NYC after winning tickets on Facebook to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular!

Walking around my old "stomping grounds" from when I went to college in NYC

View from our Time Square hotel room

[one of] my FAVORITE dances in the Christmas Spectacular!

AMAZING yarn from a really incredible store on the Upper East Side - if you are in NYC or plan to visit NYC - go there!!!

9. spend as much time with the puppies, kitties and Jonathan when I'm not at work or the theatre

Happy Heron for my 2nd year!

Silly date night selfies!

These dogs tho!  Good gracious I don't even want to tell you how many pictures of them are filling my iPhone!  I just LOVE them and all of their silliness!

Sunday morning poses!

"Dear God, it's me, Copper.  Please send roast chicken"

My babies on National Dog Day 2014

Not sure this one requires a comment....it does make me laugh EVERY TIME I see it!

10. crocheted as much as possible...looking back, on the last day of 2014, I'm honestly not sure if I crocheted a lot over the past year or no where near as much as in years past.  Based on the lack of pictures, minimal custom orders and lack of Christmas gifts I gave this year that were crocheted it feels like I crocheted very little.  In fact, looking back on some really ridiculously busy weeks and months at the theatre, I know that entire weeks went by where I didn't pick up a crochet hook!  But I know things were crocheted....barely anything that I can recall was finished and my list of ideas has grown 10-fold.  Definitely have to make sure I do a better job at photographing the work I complete in 2015 (we'll call than an official resolution - don't worry the 2015 Goals post is up next!)

A little Facebook stalking of my own page allowed me to find the following that I did crochet, finish and photograph since March:

Olaf-inspired hat for a Halloween Costume (completed custom order)

my own pattern

"Phittens" (completed custom order)

my own pattern

My Neon c2c blanket....still no where near done, but I just love the colors of this one, and the fact that I was sitting on my front porch in flip flops crocheting! 

PATTERN

Speaking of 'warm weather' crocheting - doesn't this look like amazing way to be spending a Sunday morning??

my own pattern

My first pair of Boot Cuffs!

PATTERN

The beginning of my Road Trip Scarf.  Everything but the border has been done for MONTHS, but the last time I picked it up, I couldn't understand the pattern so I gave up...it's still waiting for me, mockingly to finish

PATTERN

Crocheting accomplishments from Thanksgiving morning while watching the Parade and Dog Show

Cowl is a variation of this PATTERN

Boot Cuff Pattern is the same as above

Remember that AMAZING tower of yarn I purchased in NYC?

Well here is the hat that I crocheted for Jonathan at his request.  This was photographed from our hotel in Buffalo the night before we left for Disney.

my own pattern (just a simple dc beanie)

Here's a quick recap of what I did crochet for Christmas gifts:

As you can see, more detail and effort went into "collaging" and decorating this in PicMonkey than the actual photographing of gifts before wrapping hastily on Christmas Eve (yes, I was that person.  We arrived home from Disney around 2 a.m. on the 22nd and I had to work the 22nd and 23rd)

And, "why?", do you ask is it that I don't get anywhere near as much crocheting done as I'd like to on the rare occasions when I'm home and not sleeping?

Oh yeah, cause someone gets jealous he's not getting all of my attention at all times!

That's all for now friends.  I've had the blogging bug bad for a few weeks now so I hope it continues to stick with me in 2015!

Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year!

Moody Monday - week 6

Another week has come and gone, and I've made great progress on my Mood Blanket!

For starters:

I have finally caught up!  Everything to date (through today) has been crocheted!  As you can see, no ends have been dealt with (well, some have) and I still haven't started putting my blanket together, but progress has been made there as well!

I did all the math, many many times to figure out how I wanted to put my blanket together, and tested out Lucy's joining for Granny Squares.  Still not 110% on my joining decision, and wanted to just look things over one more time in the light of day (AKA: Saturday).

Here's what I crocheted for week 6:

2/3: NOT FEELING WELL - woke up last Monday morning not feeling well at all.  Hopeful that I'm not getting sick and/or catching whatever it is going around my office.

2/4: FREEZING / THINKING OF GRANNIE - the sunrise on my drive to work Tuesday morning made me feel as though Grannie was looking down on me

It was, again, freezing cold but I immediately thought of my colors for freezing and thinking of Grannie, and they really match this sunrise perfectly.

2/5: SNOWY DAY / EXCITED - more snow in WNY and some exciting possibilities arose at work.

2/6: EXCITED - Wednesday's excitement continued into Thursday with good meetings at work, in additional to a few meetings I had outside of the office.

2/7: SICK - ugh....drove home Thursday night with a migraine, woke up with it on Friday morning.  Started to cough while getting ready for work, and definitely had a nasty sore throat.  Everything went downhill throughout the day on Friday, but I made it through my day in the office, came home and just C.R.A.S.H.E.D.  sore throat, fever, body aches, and cough

*BONUS HEX* refused to miss the Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, even if I did have a flu.  I had to make a TEAM USA hex for the day as well!

2/8: TIRED / SICK - didn't feel as terrible Saturday as I did on Friday, I even made it to my 10 a.m. nail appointment.  Came home and took a 4 hour nap, slept through most of the Olympic events that night, and still slept a solid 8 hours.  I clearly needed all that rest to get over whatever it is/was infecting my system.

2/9: FEELING CRAFTY / SICK - woke yesterday feeling around 75%.  Spent most of my day crocheting and watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix.  Slowly getting better (even if my voice isn't fully back)

2/10: PRODUCTIVE - "technically" this hex belongs on next week's post.  But it was already in my picture before I realized this.  So, you're getting it tonight.  You may see it again next week, if I remember.  We'll call today's productivity a variation on overachieving!

Speaking of today's productivity, I've gotta show off my favorite hex to date:

TOO CUTE, right??  Jonathan asked me if the owl was because I was feeling crafty.  I told him it was because I bought an Owl [decoration] that day!  I'm just realizing now that the owl was supposed to be happy / feeling crafty, but that I crocheted it happy / thinking of Grannie.  Maybe she wanted to be part of today's crocheting - or she was a part of my crafty shopping trip with Mom back on January 18th.

Showcase Sunday

No "sneak peak" to show this weekend, cause I'm too excited to show off of my 2 new ETSY postings:

Are these hats not the cutest?  I'm just in LOVE with both of them!!  I wish I'd made the pink one in my size...or that I had a little girl to put them on :-)

They are between 18" and 19" in circumference - perfect for ages 1-3 (though measuring the recipient's head is the best way to ensure an accurate fit)

Both can be found at www.etsy.com/shop/craftyhollylouise - check them out today!!

Warm Your Space Wednesday - Valentine's Edition

I did it!  

I actually completed a planned project for Warm Your Space Wednesday and am ready to write about it on Wednesday.

If only I had gotten better pictures this weekend... Thank goodness for photo editing online... (there's always room for growth before next week, right?)

Isn't this so cute!!!  I just love it every time I walk through the kitchen!

I found THIS pattern just as it was posted last month.  I honestly can't even remember what I was doing/looking for when I came across it, but I immediately fell in love with it and new it would be a great way to warm my space this Valentine's season (yes, I do believe a season is in order for all things hearts, pink, love, and roses)  Everything was crocheted in Red Heart with Love in Candy Pink and an I-hook.

 

This shade is just perfect for Valentine's Day!  Over-the-top sickeningly sweet, perfect shade of pink!

As previously posted, it took me a few weeks to really get started on this project, but once I got focused and really started working on these they went so fast!  Sarah's pattern is super easy to read and I quickly had it memorized and cranked out the 13 necessary within two nights of crocheting.  I'd say that they could have been done in one if I didn't eat dinner and those puppies weren't so darn distracting, but neither of those is ever likely to occur in our house!

I'm not sure there is much more that I can say about these except that they just make me smile! 

*side note - totally loving on all the snow stuck to the trees in these pictures.  While I'm a little over the excessive cold, and am really sick of my sweater collection each day as I'm getting dressed for work, I just LOVE the snow!  Even when the slower driving extends my commute, I can't help but smile at the beautiful white flakes coming down and the winter-scape out my windows

**side note #2 - those spring like flowers were a lovely surprise from Jonathan last week while everything that was going on last week really had me down.  There are also flowers from my mother-in-law that are just out of the sight line of this picture.  As I mentioned on Monday, my family has been amazingly supportive and really know how to make a girl feel extra loved!

For any of you non-crocheters out there reading this, who would love Heart Garland for your home for Valentine's Day [2015], send me a message at craftyhollylouise[@]gmail.com  I sadly don't anticipate having enough time to make and ship these for your family's enjoyment this year (unless you're looking to use these year round / for an Anniversary / Birthday!  Then I'd be more than happy to work with you on timing!)  As always, color options are endless.

 

P.S.  Be sure to check out the adorable ideas Taurie has been cranking out for Valentine's Day, including Valentine's inspiration and this week's Warm Your Space Wednesday, found here.  And I sooooooooooo wanna make THESE!!!!

Two on Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope that your week has been off to a great start!

 Things that are making me happy today:

1.  Hair tutorials, like THESE, from Kate over at The Small Things Blog.  I woke up this morning in no mood to go through the process of doing my hair for work.  Typically I am terrible at any sort of "styling" when it comes to my hair, so I'm usually a bit of a "hot mess" after these types of mornings.  I've kinda, sorta, half-@ssed tried this Mid-Knot style before but it went all kinds of wrong.  Today though?  Well, it must be my lucky day, because I think I [almost] got it!

And yes, after about 10 photos, I've also realized that my "skill" for taking back of my head #selfies in the bathroom mirror rivals my standard inability to style my own hair.  Either way - this was over my late lunch hour so not only did my hair go up on the first try and look decent, it still looks decent this far into my day!  (yeah me!)

This will likely never happen again, and the next time I think I'm going to sleep in the extra 15 min and put my hair up all "cute" I'll show up 15 min late to work, overly frustrated with my hair in a nasty little knot/bun/thing.  So for now, I'll enjoying having hair that looks like I'm capable of doing something with it.

2.  Getting to crochet over my lunch hour.  While my commute to work is about 35 min on dry roads (to go 32 miles - such an improvement over DC traffic!),  my parents live 8ish min from my office so I frequently head over there on my lunch hour.  Always on the days my Mom is off from work, and on the other days (like today) it just depends on my work load, the weather, if I remembered to bring anything to do while I'm there, general mood, if I'm in need of food (and too cheap to buy something), etc.  I headed over today so that I could finish crocheting up my mock-ups of the three patterns I was deciding between yesterday for my 2014 Mood Blanket.  

That's right - WAS deciding between - I've totally made my decision, and I'm so excited to get going on my blanket!

Here are the 2 that I crocheted up last night.  I'd already made my decision by the time I'd finished the 2nd one, but continued on to the third, just to be sure.  I messed up #3 as I was trying to beat the clock to my final Christmas dinner of the holiday season..  I tried #3 again today, and while I was doing it right this go-around, I still didn't like how it looked compared to the one I was already in love with:

That's right.  I shoulda just trusted my gut!  I'm using THIS pattern, and to get three rows of color before my border, I'm adding a 4th row of single crochet.  Each corner space is a sc ch1 sc.  I'm using a G hook and my finished hex is about 3.5" across.  I just love this little "peanut" and they only take me 10 min to crochet, 15 max with weaving in ends!  Perfect for me to get caught up on January, not over look on a busy night, and/or catch up again when life gets too busy!  I also really like the narrow border of sc so that when everything is joined together you'll primarily see my "mood colors" with a little connecting border throughout.

Still a little unsure of my connecting method and how I'm going to lay everything out, but I'm certain that by my next "Moody Monday" post I'll have so much more to share!

So what did I decide to do with my other mock ups?  Well, the one I didn't finish I will frog this evening so I can reuse the yarn on my blanket.  The other one?

I've been in need of a new Spring-time coaster in my office.  This works perfectly! (I'm not a big fan of how this pattern is written, but the finished product definitely makes adorable coasters with ENDLESS color possibilities.  One day when I have some free time (ha-ha) I may have to try and adjust the pattern a bit for my liking)