fabric/crochet circle scarf!

wow.  i did it again.  dropped the ball on blogging.  for the record, i manage a good amount of blogging for my work over with Fifth House Ensemble!

anyways, in my defense (again...) i was in a wedding in august and moved apartments.  i can't even begin to tell you how good it feels to be living on my own.  i loved my roommates, and still do, but i finally live in my very own apartment.  a super cute little studio in rogers park.  i'm in love with everything about it...the neighborhood, the building, the apartment, the location, everything.  it's definitely a 100% upgrade from my situation in uptown.

anyways, i've got a new FO & WIP to share with you!  allyson at the sweatshop of love put out a tutorial for a crochet/fabric infinity scarf pattern.  i got super excited to make myself a notre dame scarf with the pattern, and while allyson can't support my choice in colors/teams (look, she's a michigan fan), she totally supported my project on the twitters!  thanks, allyson!  we'll just not talk about it...or saturday's game...which almost killed me.

anyways, here it is!

Go Irish!

And here's the next one.  I may or may not be obsessed with this rainbow yarn. 

Mindy Kaling Interview with The Happiness Project

I agree with everything that is said in the beginning of this article… I love Mindy Kaling (actress/writer/producer for THE OFFICE, and she has an AWESOME twitter presence (@mindykaling).  THE HAPPINESS PROJECT is a book that I got my mom for Mother’s Day/her birthday last year, and she has since given to me so I can read it.  It’s in my TO-READ pile, and hopefully I’ll get to it ASAP.

The author did an interview with Mindy, and, as usual, Mindy is a rockstar.

Check it out.

My Virtual Fingerprint

I've got a handful of places on ye-old-interwebz that I call my own, and some of them have been updated recently! 

1.  Books I've Read -- I keep track of the books I read in two places.  Listal.com, just as a place for lists.  And this year I discovered Goodreads...and am doing a "2011 Reading Challenge" & trying to read 40 books this year (to beat 2010's 32 books).  I updated both sites today!

Carole's 2011 Books Read on Listal


Carole's Goodreads -- 2011 Reading Challenge 13/40 (32%)

2.  I also have a Tumblr site...a place to post random things I discover on the internets or photos I take. 


Sweeping Sheridan on Tumblr

3.  Of course, you can follow me on Twitter- @theedeeter

4.  And last but not least, my Etsy Shop!  I just added new items this week!


deeter's yarnings on Etsy

Hodge Podge-ination

So!  April has not been treating me well.  Between the ER on Friday and stupid stuff that went down today, April 2011 and I are NOT FRIENDS.  In order to cheer myself up, here are good things that are going on in my life right now.

1.  I finished the Hunger Games trilogy yesterday.  It was wonderful, and while I was sad that it ended, I felt like I got the closure I needed after an intense saga like that.

2.  Also reading related, I started a brand new book by one of my favorite authors -- Sarah Addison Allen.  Her newest book is called "The Peach Keeper."  I started it yesterday evening at work, had to force myself to put it down so I could get some sleep, and am more than half way through it already.  Her book "The Girl who Chased the Moon" is still my favorite, but this is good.  SAA's books are the PERFECT books for escaping and day dreaming. 

3.  I sent off the Chickies and Bunnies that I made for my Aunt's granddaughters yesterday.  They magically arrived today, and I got an email saying she loves them.  HOORAY!

4.  The Knit Purl Gurl's March Madness contest is still going on!  And I'm still hoping my name gets drawn for some of Lion Brand's Cotton Bamboo Yarn!  Cross your fingers for me, and then head over to The Knit Purl Gurl's blog and enter one or all of her many March Madness contests!

5.  I'm wearing my super cute new skirt today :)  

 

Ok, that's all I've got.

Second Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Day 1

So I read about this over on The Sweatshop of Love's Blog -- Allyson, the knitter/blogger who runs said Sweatshop -- is the wonderful, talented lady who taught me to crochet!  I took a free workshop she was offering at one of the libraries here, and I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for her class!  And she's a brilliant designer/knitter & wonderful/hilarious writer!

I will say that I begin tech tomorrow for my next show at VG, so if I don't get my posts in on time, that's why.  But I do plan on responding to all of them!

So, without further ado: The Second Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week!

Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns.
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Well.  Where to start.  Honestly, picking yarn is ALL ABOUT the way it feels to me.  I literally walk around yarn stores touching every possible skein or hank.  I'm a very tactile person to begin with, so for me to use a yarn, even if it's for a project for someone else, it has to be super soft.  If I come across the prettiest, most perfect yarn ever and it's rough & scratchy?  Nope.  No way.  Sorry, but it's not going to happen.

That being said, there are some yarns I turn to time and again.  Berocco's yarns are some of my favorite.  They're pretty decently priced for quality and how much you get in a skein, and they're soft!  Some are softer than others, but in general, they're all pretty great.  Berocco does a lot of yarn blending -- currently I'm making a cowl for my BRAND NEW ETSY SHOP using their Vintage yarn, which is 50% acrylic, 40% wool, and 10% nylon.  It's machine washable, and is still amazingly soft once it's washed!

I also love Lily's Sugar n Cream yarn.  I loveLOVElove making wash cloths with this 100% cotton yarn.  Some of it is softer than others while you're working with it, but once it's washed, it's all soft and feels so good on your face!  I'm making tons of wash cloths for my Etsy shop & for a friend of mine in Indy who is selling them in her home & garden store!  Oh yeah, and it's super cheap!

Yarn number last for this post, is Plymouth Yarn Company's Baby Alpaca Grande.  This is the softest of the soft & coziest of the cozy in my opinion.  And it's chunky.  Who doesn't love a good, chunky yarn.  Two down sides?  It has to be hand washed.  And it smells kind of funny when it's up by your face (I've made a cowl & a neck warmer out of it).  Oh yeah, and it's kinda pricey.  But generally worth it if for 1 or 2 skein projects.

Well, there you have it!  See you tomorrow for day 2!

Tumblr

I've created a Tumblr account...so all of my lovely followers should also follow me there!  http://caroleinchicago.tumblr.com/

Much love.

Bookcase Organizing.

I originally found this here.

Updated! Books!

I've updated my Listal 2011 Books Read list.  Click here for the link.

I also updated my Goodreads list.  Which means my Goodreads 2011 Challenge has been updated.  I've read 5 of 40 book goal.  That's 12% people.  Click here for my Goodreads page. 

Both have been updated because I started (yesterday at 11:15am) and finished (tonight at 10:15pm) that wonderful sequel to "84, Charing Cross Road", "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street."

Wonderful.  I felt every emotion right along with Miss Hanff (the author), that when she got on her plane to leave London and head back to New York, I almost cried right along with her.  Wonderful, I say.

Now this...

is awesome!  A Valentine's heart shaped box filled with YARN!!!!!  Found here.  Email me, and I'll give you my address so you can send me one :).

 

How To Open A Book & Blanket #2

Saw this picture here today.  Love it. 

Also, progress made on wedding blanket #2 for BFF Sarah.  This picture is already out of date b/c I've made more progress since it was taken.  In this picture, it's big enough to cover my lap and a little more. 

Someday...

 

Someday, I will live somewhere where I can have THIS wallpaper.  And the light brown & tan accents to go with it.  Maybe it will be a reading room, full of comfy couches, chairs, and pillows alongside bookcases filled with books, new & old, and plenty of lovely photographs.  Or maybe it will be a craft room.  A place where I can yarn to my heart's desire on the comfiest, softest, plushest rug in town.  A girl can dream.  I stumbled across this photo here.  

Walls

Found Here.

Holy Yarn Colors, Batman!

This afghan is amazing.  They made all 55 of these different colored blocks using 10 different colors & double stranding them.  WHOA.  This is for real awesome. 

I found this here.  But I believe it originated here. 

Someday...

I will have this...

Found here.

2011 Books

I've created my list website for the books I read in 2011.  Here it is.  I've also added the link over to the left. 

It's a measly list so far, but never fear!  Goal of 40 book sin 2011, hear I come!

picture found here

"Your life is a book; Don't jump to the end to see if it's worth it. Just enjoy life and fill those pages with beautiful memories" - Scott Greenberg

Awesome:

33 Books in 2010.

For the last 2 years, I've kept a website with a list of the books I read each year.  This year, I read 33.  Not nearly as much as I would have liked, but my knitting/crocheting obsession takes up a lot of time around November/December.

Here is my list from 2010.
And my list from 2009. 

Good news is I read more in 2010 than in 2009. 

My goal for 2011?  Even more!  Let's see...30 in 2009, 33 in 2010.  How about 40 in 2011?  Done!

One of the things I learned this year, is to stop reading books that I'm not enjoying.  I used to feel obliged to finish a book once I'd started.  But I've realized that I read for pleasure, for escape, for fun, for thrill, for learning.  What's the point in reading something that I'm not having fun reading?  No point.  So, in 2010, I think there were probably 5 or so books that I started, didn't finish, and therefore did not put on the list.  And I feel a lot less guilty about not finishing a book now that I frequent the Uptown Branch of the Chicago Public Library!

And my favorites of 2010?  There's a few (in the order in which I read them):
2.  The Shadow of the Wind -- by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
3.  The Forgotten Garden -- by Kate Morton
5.  The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society -- by Ann Shaffer & Annie Borrows
16, 17, 18.  The Millennium Trilogy -- by Stieg Larsson
28.  Juliet -- Anne Fortier
30, 31, 32.  three novels by Sarah Addison Allen
33.  The Distant Hours -- by Kate Morton

One of my other reading plans for 2011?  Try to read other books by authors that I already love!

What did you read and love in 2010?

...Readers...

Home-Made Holiday Decor!

I saw this how to on one of the many crafting blogs that I read.  I think it would be awesome to make/have...and it's not like I don't have a TON of yarn sitting around...

Yarn Ball Wreath.  Found via the Craftzine.com blog.