I finished it last night while we finished watching Tin Man. I downloaded it a few days ago on itunes, and we watched it as a family over the last few nights.

Including a pattern, although, it's all single crochets, so it doesn't need a pattern. But if you're an absolute beginner, and trying to figure out a scarf for a big guy, this works for mine.
( the long green scarf )

I've still got most of this cone left. It was a huge cone for 5.00. So I'm working on some other projects with it. It's not the best for hats since it's not really stretchy, but I'm thinking it will felt nicely to make a mock map case for W, or possibly still another dice bag since he's keeping some of his miniatures in the last dice bag I gave him. E wants something out of this wool. I'm thinking maybe a flower encrusted headband because the juxtaposition of that army green wool and pretty flowers appeals to me.Plus headbands that cover ears are nice in the fall/winter here.

I posted basic domino instructions today here.
As you might remember, I did those pendants ages ago, but I've been caught up all week on working on Mike's scarf which is very nearly done. See.. Mike's scarves? Not quick. He likes them about 6-8 inches wide, and about 6 feet long, and wool. I'm using the big cone of army green wool/wool blend (just not sure, it was unlabeled, but it chars not melts, and it *itches*), and doing it lengthwise in single crochets so it gets that long vertical stripe texture you get when you do rows of single crochets. I'm going to do one final row all the way around it which will help block the starting chain which turned out just loose enough to slightly ruffle. I know, I could block that out, and probably will, but the final round will also neaten up the ends a bit.
What I've found, working with the weaver's wool instead of regular yarn is that it's not as stretchy because it's tighter spun, so using a size H hook with what's about a worsted weight yarn, I've got a lot of stitch definition. It looks *good*. E wants me to make her something out of it too. Possibly a new poncho. She wore a granny square poncho I made for her when she was about 5 to the solstice fair, I made it big, and it still fits her very nicely, but it's got holes in it from every other use she's used it for the last several years.

And.. um.. I was going to write more.. but I just realized the last time I ate was about 8 hours ago after I got home from the gym. So.. off to find food.

( Loving the alien )

Last night, Emily found a print out of a pattern I'd written and was testing, and she read it aloud completely baffled. "I don't know what this means."
Well.. she's a knitter, not a crocheter, and is as bad as I am at following other people's patterns.
I'm growing out my bangs though, so snap clips are utterly essential while I decide if I want to give up bangs or not. Otherwise it's not even a question, because despite all the years I hid behind very long bangs, having them fall in my face now makes me nuts.

If you're just dying to see it..

The next tattoo I'm getting
Kind of anyway, that's the general idea.I'll work with the artist and get his input too to polish it up and finish it up, but that's my bracelet to replace all the bracelets Mike gives me which I break because I wear them all the time.

Last night Mike called on his way home from work,and wanted to know if I wanted to go out. He'd gotten his bonus check. WOOHOO! So we went out, and E and I got some Valentine's stuff for cute lunches and dinners. A nice heart cookie cutter set that will work great with sandwiches, some pink and red sugar for sprinkling on yogurt and other sweet things that can be sprinkled with pink sugar to look cute, and some cupcake paper liners to turn inside out and use for food cups. I'm seeing a very heart-y lunch in our future.
I told Mike "I can either give you another adorable dinner, or you can take us out" so we wound up at Sourdough Mining Co. after some discussion. The issue being, I didn't care much, I was just hungry, but wanted to go to a locally owned restaurant, and Mike wanted to go to one that was close. This time I was smart. I ordered my dinner to go, because I knew I wanted the cheese sticks as an appetiser. I almost took a picture of them. They are soo huge. Mike ordered their biggest plate of bbq ribs, and also had lots of leftovers.
Sourdough has an icecream bar, with real hot fudge which I think is why Emily always chooses them. You get the icecream bar with any meal. So she got herself icecream after packaging up her leftovers (seriously.. if you order an appetiser, count on boxing most of your meal. They don't stint on portions) and I got myself a vanilla icecream with hot fudge. Mike decided real hot fudge sounded good and got some too.
So you all know how my appetite is pretty light most days right? I didn't finish my ice cream, but was leaning forward to say something to Mike and my hair went right into that real hot fudge and icecream, then when I sat up, wound up all over my shirt? I felt stupid. Anyone have any idea how to pre-treat a hot fudge stain?
Then we went to Best Buy, because I told Mike at Christmas time that for my present to him, he could get himself a new game console. I know nothing about game consoles, so it had to be his choice. He still hasn't chosen. I picked up the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire soundtrack for Emily who's been wanting it, and a couple cds for myself.
While we were there, this young lady just stopped cold, and started GUSHING over Emily's hat and scarf. "She's like a happy sunny sky! Look honey! She's a happy sunny sky! Isn't that just the cutest!! Oh I love that so much!" Emily smiled and said thank you. Yep. Definately why she loves that set. It does bring smiles. Sure, some people think her hats are just weird, but they never say anything, it's the people who appreciate them who comment.
(do you suppose the young lady blogs and will blog about seeing a girl who looked like a happy sunny sky?)
Came home, listened to the new cds, worked some more on my alien scarf, which is not going to have crossed stitches like I originally planned. I didn't like how they looked, so it's a stripe pattern with spike stitches. It's turning out nice. I still need to pick up more hot green for the alien pockets.
It was a really fun evening.

You know I was making my daughter a version of Cotton Candy Vomit's adorable rainbow scarf right? (and if you want one and don't crochet, you should buy one from her, because her prices are super reasonable. I'd have bought it instead of making it if Emily hadn't wanted a few changes)
And that I decided I was going to make a sunshine hat to go with it?
( rainbows and sunshine! )
Cool kid part? My daughter is utterly unconcerned with what other kids are wearing. She LOVES this set. She caught a look at herself in a window, and said "AWWW! I look so cute!" (did I mention modest? Yeah.. she's modest too.. HAH!)
Little girls were looking at her in the store with pure envy in their eyes. Adults were smiling at her sunshine-y happiness hat and rainbow scarf.
Since I bought red yarn, and decided on rose yarn for the red stripe, I was considering making R a crocheted devil horn hat. Of course I need more stuffing first, but it could be fun. She might even wear such a creature.
Now I'm going to make her up a scarf and hat for one of her amigurumi, because the clouds on the scarf are actually pockets big enough for her amigurumi things, same yarn, just a smaller hook size and scaled down quite a bit. After that, start Kim's shawl. :)

Emily keeps her cup sleeve (attempt 2, my favorite so far) on her kitty cat amigurumi with the creepy eyes. I really don't like the eyes on it, but she won't hear anything against her amigurumi kitty cat. I told Mike "She can keep her amigurumi in her scarf pockets"
His reply "I feel awful, I know I'm not paying attention. What's amigurumi? Those little stuffed animals?"
"Yes. So what's kanzashi?"
"Now your just messing with me."

Truly, now that my hair is getting so long, I want to make myself some kanzashi to put in it. I do my bestest to take better care of my hair then I ever have before, because I like it long, and know I have to live with anything I do to it for years instead of months now. So I don't use my french clip barrettes very often, even though I have so many pretty ones, I use a lot more hair sticks and scrunchies and combs in it now. Stuff that's not as harsh as those types of hair clips. I keep laquered chopsticks on hand to put it up quickly when I'm doing something, and have lots of headbands and kerchiefs to keep it out of my way while I'm doing things. Because hair in beadwork or crochet is icky looking.
Wm loves Styx. Woohoo! Styx and BOC, the kid is all the way up to the 20th century musically! The last mp3 disk I made him, I popped on a lot of classic rock, but also some newer things. Trying to expand his horizons past classical music.

So after I finish E's hat, I'm going to use the leftover yarn to make E's cat with the creepy eyes a matching set. Then Kim's shawl, the book reviews I have to write, and a couple hats for my nearly 5 lb nephew! (he's getting so big!) THEN I can start my scarf. I think I've decided how I'm going to do it. It will be green and black (assuming I can find black worsted weight cotton, it's the hardest color to find for some reason, so when I do find it, I buy lots. Of course other people doing the same thing could be why it's hard to find locally) with long rows striped and I think I'm going to do crossed stitches in the green over the black, ending with alien faces for pockets on both ends.

It's done! Before the first snowfall unless you count the little didn't stick at all tiny snow flies today, but you don't right? Because what I said was I'd get it done before the first snowfall.
It only took months and months, and it's only 6 feet long.
But it's DONE. Even with me having to frog back a bunch of rows and pick up stitches. I've never done that before. It's a lot harder then it looks when people who can really knit do it.

I took a break to make a necklace, oddly, using someone else instructions. I'll post that and the link tomorrow. It was a quick quick necklace and I needed the break.
So now, finish my book reviews, and I'm off the hook for a couple weeks, I can do my own thing!

He promptly wrapped the very classy dark grey scarf around his neck, and put on his Jayne hat and said "I'm ready for winter" which is a lot more convincing when you are wearing something other then a tank top and pair of shorts.

Is about 63% done now. At least that's what my pretty pink progress says. I figured it out by folding it and there was a slub in the yarn just after I added the new ball, (my half way point) and it's about 5/8 done, so about 63%.
Okay.. He's 6'1", 300 lbs. The scarf is the right size for me now, but I can't wear wool. I keep trying to convince him it's the right size for him, but he likes his scarves long, and he keeps telling me "almost there" and I'm getting the feeling it's the scarf that never ends. I know. It's my fault. I procrastinated it all summer. I want to make little felt plushies. I want to bead. I want to do something other then click click click go the needles on the plain grey scarf.

First scarf= acrylic, crocheted, boring, but went quickly, it was my first project in single crochet for the whole thing before the year I had surgery and was on lupron and got so very good at doing lots of single crochet, so it bored me badly and I cussed about why was single crochet the only stitch plain enough for his scarf? (he wants them very plain) not very warm. Acrylic doncha know. But a sign of love. I certainly never did one for my ex who wanted one quite a lot.

Second scarf= alpaca, bulky yarn. Yummy feeling stuff but somewhat fuzzy. Knit. Hated knitting it, but in retrospect, went fairly fast on size 10 needles. The thing was big enough to use as a stole for me. I am not a 6'1", 300 lb man. That's the one that got felted. I'll use it this year or give it to my son, it's still gorgeous. Just not big enough. Very warm. The fluffy though was a problem and aggravated a cough he had.
Then this thing. What the heck inspired to do worsted weight? And after a couple "swatches" (read, I knit a few rows, and decided if it was the right size needle) what looked best was size 7 needles. Size 7 needles. 7 feet of garter stitch with size 7 needles. I tend to scream a lot while working on it. "You know I love you right? You'd better LOVE this thing when it's done" It's smooth, it's the Patons classic wool, same stuff I made Wm's ribbed hat out of. I think I'll have enough wool left to use as the contrasting color for a ribbed hat for Emily so I can make a pattern for crocheters who wanted a wool ribbed hat.

Working in plain stitches in grey is love. It's also very very boring. I thought last night, maybe.. I should make the people I love best steel grey triangle bricked stitched earrings to wear as a sign of my adoration, because I willingly bored myself for them. Then thought they would never get it, and understand that forcing myself do them in grey was the thing, instead of some of my more intricate patterns like my skull and crossbones earrings.

Yesterday we went to the library.. ah.. library happiness. I checked out the couple of the Shakespeare books by Charlene Harris I haven't read and some stuffed animal books because I still can't find my favorite one here at the house. I want to work on mini stuffies out of felt. The one I have here at the house somewhere has an elephant pattern I used when I was very broke for William's first Christmas (machine sewn, my little felt stuffies will be hand sewn)
I still need to try and find where Mom put the Christmas stuff at dad's house, my Aunt Elizabeth made some little felt ornaments I want to copy at some point, I've *searched* for the patterns on Ebay, I remember what they looked like mostly. I thought they were probably a vintage Bucilla pattern because Bucilla was famous for such things. The other thing I've got to get a picture of is Wm's Christmas stocking, mine was ruined, but I'd happily pay anyone who could make a pattern off the photo and make them for us. I know they would cost a fortune to get them made, they should. I'd at least like one made for Emily, Aunt Liz's vision was too bad to make one for her. She made them for all the kids from my Mom's generation to William's. Finely knit out of wool with angora for the fluffy Santa beard they were huge. Mom used to fill mostly with nuts and fruit because they were so big. The other thing I want quite a lot is a replica of the afghan that my grandma made me. That's a bit trickier, see, she made it out of the last yarn my grandfather bought her before he died, and mine got torn apart by a dog. Long story I'm still pretty bitter about. I do have the very last thing she knitted though before her vision got too bad, and it's a baby blanket made in the same pattern that she made for William. It's not as finely knit as those stockings, but it's a lacy sort of stitch pattern. Very pretty. That's my incentive for learning to knit. However, having such a hard time mastering stocking stitch, I'm not sure it's ever going to happen. I'm better at crochet.
The library free table had stacks and stacks of stuff, and Emily happily dug through 5 years of the New Yorker to find all the issues that had Christmas covers for crafts, I found an old Amiga manual that will make a nifty notebook after I yank the page block out and replace it with blank pages. Ahh.. the Amiga 500, I remember it well. I also found a terribly outdated Girls and Computers kids book with a happy pink cover I grabbed for Mel to alter. It's got some drawing and such in it, but a lot of that will wind up covered in altering. I thought about being greedy and keeping it for myself, but I'm too curious to see what Mel will come up with for it. I can imagine all sorts of things.
So now it's time to get back to work on the scarf. Then write book reviews. Then answer email that should have been answered a month ago. Then do dishes.
Then darnit.. I'm gonna spend an hour working on my Bag of Holding, because I need a break from the scarf of doom.

I'm working on it again. They keep predicting snow soon, and I said I've had it done by the time it snowed. It won't be. I do have it almost half done though finally.

If I ever again, decide with my limited knitting ability to knit a scarf on size 7 needles, please kick my butt. Kick it twice if it's a Mike size scarf. Today I tried to convince him short scarves were trendy.

So I'm listening to one of the Undead books while working on beads and knitting and such.. and if you've ever read one, you know they are utter bubblegum, silly as can be. I read them because they make me laugh very hard. What's funnier? *Listening* to one of the love scenes in them. Oh yeah.. I nearly spilled beads everywhere last night. There is, I think, no way to read one of those love scenes without it coming off completely silly.

Tomorrow is my MRI. Say a prayer or whatever that it does find a cause, that I can get a clear diagnosis, and also that it's something solvable. It would be awful if the clear diagnosis was something truly horrible.
I'm a little nervous. I know MRIs don't hurt, but they told me they had music for me to listen to. Now here's the thing.. you remember the meditation cd they gave me? I'm terrified of what they will think is appropriate music for an MRI.
I'll get the results back probably Tuesday.

In other news, Bryan Bowers is coming up next month, I'm thinking of taking my eldest, the youngest has stated clearly she has no interest, and Dad said he would watch her. I think Wm will love it.

You probably already know how to do this, but I wanted to post it in case anyone hit this from my website was interested.

I promised Emily a Gryffindor scarf as a reward. It's not exactly like the movies, because being in Alaska, I want it to be warm, and I have mild wool issues. It makes me ITCH. Making it in anything warm that's not wool is very expensive. So it will have to be wool. Since it's going to be wool, it must be crocheted.

There are a few crocheted patterns out there for these scarves, but none of them were what I wanted. For precise patterns you don't have to do the math for, click here or here.

But if you agree with me that neither of these are quite right, you need to do some math. The information here helped me out considerably.

So I went out, and bought my yarn. I didn't find the exact shade of gold I wanted for her scarf, but that's okay. It's pretty close, and worsted weight wool. The lady at the knit shop was incredibly helpful and gave me a couple samples of gloves in a bottle which do really help cut down on the itchies. I was able to do 8 inches of it before I had to take a break, and I had to take that break because I was hungry!!!

So I measured Emily, and a scarf for her needs to be about 45 inches long, a little longer is fine, a little shorter isn't.

Decided which hook size I was going to use. Size H.
On to the rest of the math.

11 bunches (6 dark, 5 light> of fringe means you need an odd number of stitches. 10x something plus 1. In my stitch gauge, that's 21 stitches for a scarf 5.5 inches wide. Because it's wool, I can block it a bit bigger if I must. Change that according to yarn type and gauge obviously. If I were using a sport weight yarn and a size E hook I'd go 31, or a bulky yarn and bigger hook, 11 might do it.

Divide whatever length you need do your scarf in by 19. (the bars on the earlier movies are 10 dark, 9 light, alternating), so for me 45/19=2.36, round up to 2.5, start crocheting in your stitch of choice. In my case, single crochets. Do a few rows and measure until are you close to the number of rows you need, do another row, so in my case, 10 rows is about 2.8 inches. Like I said, a little longer is fine, a little shorter isn't. So that's the number of rows I need for each bar.

It's easy to design your own striped scarf pattern, and do it in which ever stitch your most comfortable in, but a lot of people don't feel like they can design.

Designing the hat my son wants will take a bit more work. I have the colors he chose and his head measurements, but if it just plain doesn't work for me, I'll mail the yarn to R and ask her to knit him one, it's a bulky weight wool, and he wants medium grey and dark teal. They will be great colors on him, but I've never crocheted a hat for a young man before. Keeping it masculine enough looking will be a challenge in crochet. There are really a lot more knit patterns that look good on guys.

I will get pictures when I'm done. At least Emily asked for this. I was scared she'd ask for a Jolly Roger! She's been pirate crazy lately.
( picture of finished scarf )
Also, very nifty I think, since I'll be able to crochet with wool using the glove in the bottle stuff, I think I'm going to use some of my tapestry patterns to make felted wool potholders for people for Christmas. I just know I can't be the only one who would be thrilled with goffy potholders. The silliness of nicely done crocheted potholders with ankhs or anarchy symbols on them can't just be amusing to me!

-Shala