Aforementioned Thoughts

Process

aforementionedthoughts — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:03:17 +0000

I feel as though I’m actually making progress on Sam’s turtle blanket. Three years in the making and it’s finally big enough to cover me up. Still have a few rows to go until it will work for Sam though.

I’ll admit that I was a bit concerned about how much I (and Sam, of course) would like the blanket when it was all put together. Not that I thought I wouldn’t like it, but this was one of the first major crochet projects that I took on. I sort of stumbled my way along certain aspects, such as blocking and joining. Now that the squares are turning into a true blanket however, I’m very happy with it’s turning out. I love the small designs coming together in an orderly fashion. I love the melding of all the greens. I love the idea that my Sam will soon (hopefully!) be warm underneath years of thoughts and love that I’ve crocheted for him.

Wacky Weather

aforementionedthoughts — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:44:38 +0000

We go from this (two weeks ago)…

..to 70 degree weather. I’m not complaining, but this is some really wacky winter weather!

I’ve been…

aforementionedthoughts — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:59:36 +0000

…not spending a ton of time online, just trying to keep up with the feed readers and such.
…playing a ton of our new Wii Fit! So much fun!
…intrigued by this story. Read about it on Geek Crafts. I was really touched by Ryan White’s story around this time last year. It’s good to see someone take a challenge they are faced with and use it to help others.
…crafting (knit and crochet) a ton, but not getting much completed. I am making great progress on Sam’s turtle blanket though.. maybe it will be finished before 2010. Haha.
…venturing through the insane snow and ice we’ve gotten in the past week.

…

My First Ballband Dishcloth

aforementionedthoughts — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:32:48 +0000

Before I ever learned to knit there were two things I wanted to knit more than all others.. the calorimetry and the ballband dishcloth. Well, I finished the calorimetry last summer and finally got the courage to give a shot at the ballband dishcloth. Turns out, it’s a lot less difficult than it looks. Not my favorite dishcloth to knit so far, but I can see how addicting it would be to see what different color selections look like together

Little Links, Second Week of January 2009

aforementionedthoughts — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:28:10 +0000

Michelle made the first post on her blog (Raven’s Flights of Fancy) this week. I’m so excited to announce this, I hope you all will check it out and follow her if jewelry is your thing.

NancyDrew Blackberry Themes – A place where I found some really cute themes for my Blackberry. Most are free, which is great.
About.com – The site has seemed to have a huge overhaul since the last time I visited it. It’s a great source for almost anything you can think of. My favorites at the moment are Smart Phones, Knitting and Nintendo DS.
CalorieCount – Also a part of About.com. We’re getting ready to start our weight loss contest at work and I happened to stumble upon this great FREE resource for calorie counting and support. And believe me, it’s hard to find a free one of those around.

Glass Skull Pendant

aforementionedthoughts — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:03:44 +0000

My bff Michelle is in the start of making her own jewelry business. She’s been seriously making jewelry for a few years now and does such an awesome job. I’m looking forward to her business being up and running so I can buy some of her jewelry myself!

For Christmas I helped her with some of the mundane things of starting your own business, I made her some business cards, registered her a domain and set up a blog on the site, etc.. It was a lot of fun being able to do that for her (I get a kick out of doing stuff like that anyways) and she seemed to really like everything, so that was great too. I’ll be linking to her website just as soon as she gets some time to add her own stuff.

For (part of) my Christmas gift, Michelle gave me this awesome glass pendant that she made herself:

It’s really great, I love the colors she chose and the skull in the middle. It looks really professional and it’s kinda crazy to think the girl I’ve known since 5th grade made it herself. I have so many crafty talented friends and family that it makes my head spin sometimes.

My DIY iPod Cover

aforementionedthoughts — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:03:04 +0000

I had already been excited by the clear Griffin iPod cover that I found for my iPod at the local Dollar Tree. It gave a little protection to my iPod, and I figured maybe someday I’d buy a decal for the iPod as well (this is my older video iPod, not my iPod touch). I was super excited when I saw this crafty tutorial on jannypie’s blog.

It’s one of those, “Duh, why didn’t I think of this?” moments. It’s really easy to cut out the template and scrapbook paper is so cheap I can change them out with the seasons. The whole project took maybe 15 minutes and cost me nothing, since I used stuff I had already purchased!

Relaxing

aforementionedthoughts — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:35:49 +0000

I wish all days could be spent cuddling with the puppy and doing some relaxing knitting.

Waffleknit Dishcloth, Also My First Attempt at Changing Colors in Knitting

aforementionedthoughts — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:16:17 +0000

I’ve told you before that I love making dishcloths. Especially to learn techniques. I finally decided that I was tired of not knowing how to change colors while knitting, so I just jumped in and tried it. I think it turned out really well for my first shot.

It wasn’t nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. One of those things that are much more intimidating than they should be.

The free pattern which I found through a Ravelry search, can be found here. It’s a really easy pattern to memorize and I love the end result.

2008 Goals – How’d I Do?

aforementionedthoughts — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:03:46 +0000

If you remember, at the beginning of this year I made three goals for myself of things to work on in 2008. Although I haven’t been as successful with these goals as I had hoped, I certainly did better than I have done on past goals and it’s been fun to be able to look back at my goals to see how much I’ve accomplished through the years. So here’s a look back at how I did on my 2008 goals…

Goal #1: Further Develop AforementionedThoughts.com in the new year.

Well, I didn’t develop the website in the ways I had hoped at the beginning of the year. What I did do this year was to redefine what this website means to me and why I keep it up. While I would love for this to be a business venture at some point in time, I’m not at that point in my life right now and taking that pressure off of myself has helped me a lot. I now view this website as something I do for myself, because I enjoy it. A scrapbook of sorts, for myself. I love that some people read and comment on this blog, but try not to get upset when people don’t. And although I hate it when things happen and I can’t post, I try not to beat myself up about that either.

Goal #2: Develop my crochet, knitting, and sewing skills.

I really enjoy crafting, so I’m glad that this is the goal that I’ve probably gotten the farthest on this year. I didn’t finish Sam’s turtle blanket, but I’m almost done. I did sew something off a pattern and loved the results. And I properly learned how to knit and have actually really started enjoying it!

Goal #3: Lose weight/eat healthier in the new year.

I did this in the beginning of the year, but then somehow I fell back to the old habits. I guess this can be considered the failure of the bunch, but I guess one out of three isn’t bad.