Lordaeron Chart

My husband started it. He swore that one day he'd get me to try his games. I laughed. He said I'd like them. I laughed some more and told him I doubted it. He said I'd get addicted. And I said he was crazy. Guess who's laughing now? Yep. He is. He finally got me to play WoW (World of Warcraft) about a week ago. I'm hooked. Unfortunately, though, being a mother to two toddler boys and being home with them all day long, I don't get to play much. But I guess that keeps the addiction at bay. LOL Besides that, I do still value my own interests above gaming, namely crafting. But why not bring those two interests together?

I originally started looking up patterns for knitting and crocheting things that revolved around games from Mario Brothers to Zelda to WoW, so I could try and make him things. But once I started gaming, I had to start joining groups at Ravelry about gaming. LOL There have been a couple of charts there provided for WoW specifically, and there was someone looking for a specific chart. I figured I'd give it a go. Granted, the squares are a lot smaller than the other charts, and it's a bit larger, but I figure it's a good start and the chart can mutate from here. (And I'm sorry it's so blurry...if anyone knows of a way to fix that, please let me know! I drew it up in Excel and saved it as a picture in Paint so that I could upload it here.) So without further ado, I give you the chart for the Lordaeron symbol!:

UFO Sighting!!!

No, really! I mean it! I was reunited with my yarn stash a little more than a month ago, and in the bottom of the containers, I found all the unfinished objects (UFOs) that have been sitting there for who knows how long! (Haha! I bet you thought I was talking about aliens!) So I sorted through them and figured out which ones I could salvage and continue...there's one that can't be saved. It looks really nice and all, but I used 3 different stitches on it, and can't for the life of me remember (or figure out) which ones they were. So it's got to be frogged. :( But I've almost finished the tote bag. I just have to sew the lining for it and buy buttons to sew on. Then the lapghan...I ran out of one of the colors I was using (and still need), much like the pink and black round ripple. And I also need more black for another project. On top of almost being out of Dark Navy for my other two WIPs (works in progress). But, unfortunately, there is no yarn here. And yes, I literally shed tears over that. Well, I say no yarn, but I bet if I were to actually go into town, not on base, I could find some in the local stores, but odds are, it'd require speaking some Italian (which I don't know), and would definitely take some Euros (of which I have none). So it looks as though I'm shopping online or depending on people back home in the States to send me some. *sigh* I think I'll buy it online. I love my friends and family and all, and know they can send me stuff I need, but I'm a bit impatient, and am not sure they would send it as fast as I'd like. It's likely their reasons would be completely legitimate. I'm not saying they wouldn't be, but like I said: I'm impatient. LOL

I promised myself no starting new projects until I finished the other ones. HA! That was like shooting off the starting gun! LOL Last night my fingers begged to start something new. I caved. I have little self-control when it comes to yarn. lol I was going to make it just pink and white and call it "Obscenely Pink" (b/c the pink is BRIGHT!), but decided partway into it that I wanted more bright colors, too. So now it's "Obscenely Bight." LOL I have no idea who I'm making it for, either. LOL I'm sure I'll find someone that will happily wear it, though! :)

Cleaning Out the Closet

So just in these past few months, I've been crocheting like never before, turning out new projects left and right. And somehow, whenever I felt the urge to begin a new project, ones that I had been working on previously slowly found their way into a black hole. lol But with having moved (and moved overseas, no less) and then being reunited with my yarn stash, I had to take inventory of the yarn I did have. I can't find my yarn here and need to know what to have my sister send to me. And in this adventure of being up to my ears in yarn, I came across multiple projects that I began a lifetime ago....back before I had kids...back before I was married....even some from before I even met the man I married! And I think it's time to finally pull those out and put them to rest, be it by finishing the projects or by frogging them. I really, really, really don't want to have to take any of them apart, but in some cases I don't really have a choice. Like the purple scarf I got about a quarter of the way through. I have absolutely no idea what stitches I used on it! And to figure it out (there are three different stitches), I'd have to take the whole thing apart anyhow!

Then there's The Blanket. I started that one when I learned how to make granny squares when I was only 16! (Previous to that, all I knew how to make was boring back and forth rows of double crochet...lol) It slowly grew big enough to fit my bed, but then my brother got engaged, so it morphed into a wedding gift for the two of them. I never finished it. But I ran out of the yarn (which has been long since discontinued) and my squares (and crocheting) have greatly improved in quality since then, and I don't think I could make squares like that again if I wanted to! Maybe I could just give it to my sons to play with or something...because even if I did take it apart, I don't know what I'd do with the yarn from it! Sad day...

Blessedly, though, there is a project that I not only have enough of the right yarn to finish (same dye lot and all!), but I know exactly where the pattern is! I used a type of granny square to start making a small tote. It was supposed to have been a birthday present about four years ago for a girl I used to baby-sit. Talk about being a long time in coming! LOL But I'm only 15 squares away from finishing the main part of it, then I have to make the lining (which I picked out the material for 4 years ago, as well, and still have!) and the strap for the bag. I can't wait to finally see that one done! LOL

So once I finish the lapghan for my mother-in-law (that very nearly shared the same fate as the other named projects...it just didn't quite make it as far down into the black hole...I started that one last July...), it'll be time to take care of the named UFOs and keep digging for more. I know they're there. It's almost scary in a way to find these half finished projects, and I'll be very relieved once they've met their fates!

Knitting Away

I have a disease. I learned how to knit, and now I’m going overboard! I’m not sure what it could be called….Knit-ersia? No, wait! I do know! It’s called “Addiction”! I am a yarn addict. I learned how to knit less than a week ago, and I’ve already got two knitting works in progress and have two small projects (three, if you count my first knitting attempt, which was nothing more than a little square) done! I did have three of the four projects going at once…oh yeah, plus the new crocheted one I started, so a maximum of four projects going simultaneously…

I started this scarf that I really love the colors to, but started it all super tight and have gradually relaxed my stitches a little bit so that it looks more natural, but now I can’t use it as a gift, because I’m anal like that. It’s not perfect. That means I have to either scrap it (which would majorly suck) or keep it to wear myself….wait a second….make something to keep?! For ME?! I’ve never done that before….

Anyhow, I got close to halfway done with it and then realized I wanted something else to work on when I got bored with that one; enter the Ravenclaw Round Ripple. And if I’m going to make something based on the colors and patterns of the scarves in Harry Potter, well then, why not make a scarf, too? (Yes, I’m a Harry Potter fan, thank you very much…lol) Those scarves were the main reason I wanted to learn how to knit, anyhow. My best friend wanted one, but I couldn’t knit, so I made my own pattern for crocheting her one, but it wasn’t good enough for me. The ones in the movies were knit. The one I made wasn’t. (Yeah, yeah, I know…obsessive compulsive…) Now, as to the reason why I chose to do Ravenclaw as opposed to one of the other houses…mainly comes down to I like those colors best! LOL I’ve done, like 50 gagillion of those online generators that tell you which house you’ll be in, and 50% of the time I’m sorted to Griffyndor, 49% of the time I’m sorted into Ravenclaw, and I’ve been sorted once into Hufflepuff. (I personally think there was just something wrong with that particular generator, though…LOL) And I’ve made so many Griffyndor-themed things, I felt it was time for a change.

Then, I started writing actual “snail mail” letters, as I don’t have Internet at home just now (which drives me bonkers, actually) and needed communication with those back home. Torie and I always send each other sticker covered letters, and as what part of what I was sending her required a large manila envelope, I had to fill the envelope as much as I could…and as we send each other completely random things, I thought I’d make her “proof” that I could knit, (like she would disbelieve me and need proof to begin with…lol) so I made the mini Italian flag. Well, now I’m nearly out of dark navy for the Ravenclaw projects, (almost out of grey too, for that matter, and I still need to get more black so I can finally finish my pink explosion project…) so I “needed” to begin yet another project, right?

The day my friend taught me how to knit, my husband said that he didn’t see what was so cool about it because all you could do was knit stripes. Ha! I tried to explain his crafting ignorance, but I don’t think he got it…so I decided to do something that I’ve been wanting desperately to try, just to show him what cool things can be done with knitting: I made the illusion Hedwig. I wanted to use black and white for the full contrast effect, but, as aforementioned, I’m out of black. So I used grey instead. (Which is part of why I’m now nearly out! LOL) But it looks so cool! I can’t wait to show it to him!

And all this has what I’ve gotten into in this past month. I really want to finish my pink and black round ripple, but need the black, and would have long ago continued on my granny square lapghan, but don’t remember what size hook I was using (and haven’t been able to check, as my Internet time has been severely limited….as in I’m actually typing this up in a Word document right now to copy and paste later…) and I’ve gone a bit more with my static stitch granny square blanket, but I’m using black to border all those, and, well, I’m out of black. But since we’re finally all moved and settled in and I’m back with my stash (it was terrible being separated from it!) I’ve also been reunited with about 50 other incomplete projects to pick back up! LOL Okay, so not really that many. Just seems that way. But now that I’ve posted this blog and have something to connect to all the bunch of new projects that’ll be popping up on Ravelry, I’m off to craft some more!