Hubby feeds my addiction

In case anyone ever doubted me, of course I'd be able to find the only yarn shop within a 100 mile radius.

A couple weekends ago, Hubby and I visited the PA Renaissance Faire's Celtic Fling weekend with a bunch of our friends.  One of my friends teaches at an Irish dance studio and her class was performing that weekend.  It was a lot of fun because I'd never seen them perform before and I actually do enjoy Irish dancing.  Throw in lots of drinks and yummy food, and you're in for a good weekend (even if some random guy in a kilt walks up to you and just sticks his face in your sangria for no apparent reason).

While wandering around, we came across a shop by the KareDan Farming Initiative.  Lo and behold, they were selling handspun, hand-dyed yarn.  Hubby was nice enough to buy some for me because he knows I have a problem.

Here's the hank I chose in all its glory:





I love the colors - now I just need to find a project :)  It's about 100 yards, so it'll definitely have to be knit, and it'll most likely be a hat.  Maybe I'll whip something up after I mail out this current round of Traveling Scarves. 

I'm also excited because I'll get to use the ball winder Hubby got me for Valentine's Day.  I tried using it on a hank of sock yarn I bought awhile ago, but being that I didn't read the directions, I only managed to create a huge knot.  For many hours, I sat in Knitter's Hell trying to unknot everything, but it was of no use.  I finally just gave up.  Hopefully this goes a little better for me!

Summer is in full swing here.  We just got back from a wedding in Long Island and this weekend brings a trip to NYC.  We're pretty busy the rest of the summer, and then I have some dental work coming up next week that I'm really not looking forward to.  Ugh.  What I am looking forward to is relaxing for a weekend sometime in the distant future :)

Finished - Patriotic Crochet-A-Long Coasters & Placemat

Well, here are my finished coasters, plus a 4th of July potholder I made to match!









The yarn for the potholder isn't exactly thick enough to be a potholder, so instead I'm using it as a mat for under our lemonade pitcher.  Too cute.  Here's the pattern for the potholder if anyone's interested!  And, of course, the coaster pattern is here.

Thanks again to Megan for inspiring all of us to make some holiday-themed goodies.  I can't wait to use them this weekend, and I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone else's blogs to see what you all came up with :)

3-D paper flowers made with the Cricut!

A brief departure from knitting, crocheting, and crochet-a-long-ing!

Here are some 3-D paper flowers I've been making with my Cricut:







I had found this great tutorial that required a flower-shaped paper punch.  Being impatient and not wanting to spend more money, I took to the few cartridges I already have in my collection and found a flower cut-out that, with some work, could be used for this process.

I think I'm going to run to ACMoore today and buy a flower punch just for time-saving purposes (plus I have a 55% off coupon, so why not?).  I'm addicted to making these!  The ability to make professional-looking flowers without having to spend a ton of money on them just astounds me.

Okay, that's my quick update for the day :)  With any luck, I'll finish up my CAL tonight and have photos before the holiday weekend!

4th of July CAL Progress

Here are some updated photos from the 4th of July CAL!





Just need to weave in some ends and finish up a surprise coordinating project I started :)  I think it'll be super cute - wait and see!

This project has helped get me really excited for the upcoming holiday.  Especially because it falls on a Monday this year, which means I get an extra day off.  Now that classes are done, final papers are submitted, and I'm stress-free for the first time in months, I'm looking forward to eating lots of juicy hamburgers and crafting.  Maybe I'll even work up the energy to make my annual Cool-Whip, strawberry, and oreo dessert!  So yummy!

Patriotic Crochet-A-Long!

You can't see me, but I'm doing the just-typed-the-last-word-of-my-second-final-project-and-now-I-just-have-to-format-them happy dance.  You should see it - it's a hoot!

What does that mean?  It means I get more time to indulge in things I like.  Not that I don't like getting my MBA because I do.  Who knew I had a knack for accounting?  Not I.  But it's a lot of work and between two part-time classes and full-time work; I've gone off the deep end a couple times in the past year.

Ergo, I plan to fill my schedule with lots of knitting, crocheting, reading, and scrapbooking.  And of course, participating in my Traveling Scarf group.  But (you know me) I needed to add something else.

Megan over at Crochet Every Day is hosting a Patriotic Crochet-A-Long, and it's such a cute, quick little project that I had to jump in.  We'll be making a set of four star coasters and they're really adorable - and FAST!  I already made two last night.  I may wind up making more than four :)

Before starting, I took a photo of the yarn I'm going to use:



It's a mix between Caron Simply Soft (my all-time favorite affordable yarn) and Red Heart Soft Yarn (which is equally as awesome, though hard to find in many colors where I live).  I've had these sitting in my stash forever and I've gotten pertty good at busting said stash instead of buying new yarn lately.

The only requirement is that these coasters need to be made in your country's colors.  I really love the blue I chose because it's not the typical deep blue you see on flags.  I always love a hint of non-traditional colors in everything.

If you want to participate, too, just head on over to Megan's blog and leave a comment with a link to your blog post!  I hope you're all enjoying the first week of Summer and that the humidity isn't killing you like it's killing me here :)