About Me

Since I've been absent from blogging for a while, I thought I'd officially 'return' with an about me post.

I learned to crochet as a child, probably when I was 8 or 9 years old. I crocheted off and on making mostly granny squares and sewing them together till I was a senior in high school. Then I branched out and started crocheting afghans using patterns. I didn't take pictures or keep track of my earlier projects. I mostly crocheted afghans, but would make other types of projects here and there.

My youngest son was born in September of 2001. I got the knitting bug then and successfully taught myself the knitting basics from a book, but quickly lost interest. I found knitting slow and tedious and I was deathly afraid of dropping stitches. I resumed crocheting and participated in lots of swaps for crocheted items. This was also about the time that my doily fascination took hold. I've made quite a few.



My interest in knitting returned in 2005. I made lots of fun fur scarves, which was great for making me more comfortable with knitting. In late 2005, I took a sock knitting class at my LYS. I finished my first pair of socks in January 2006. And I've basically been knitting socks ever since. I completed my 100th pair of socks in February 2010.



I'm also a spinner. I purchased my wheel, a Schacht Matchless single treadle in 2007. I did a lot of spinning when I first got my wheel, but my interest in spinning has decreased some. I blame lack of time and too many great things to knit. I do still spin (more so now than 6 months ago) and I have a stack of yarns that need to be washed.



My most recent love is knitting lace. More specifically, knitting lace shawls. I started shawl knitting in 2009 and pretty much haven't looked back. In fact, I'm so smitten with shawls that I'm thinking of unofficially retiring as a sock knitter.



My current projects are:
Crew Socks
Arabella Shawl
Blackberry Brambles Socks
Mandala II Shawl

Latest Doilies

Doily making continues...


Scallopped Pineapple Doily - This one was resurrected.


Antlia Doily - A crochet along choice from the Doilie Heads group on Ravelry. Pattern here


Four-Square Pineapple - Pattern from Leisure Arts #75013, Pineapple Doilies.

All were done in size 10 thread from various manufacturers (i.e., South Maid, Aunt Lydia's).

I have 2 more doilies that need to be blocked and another in the works, so more doilies to come soon.

Resurrecting a Project

A few years back (before I became obsessed with socks), I used to crochet a lot of doilies (check out my Doily Set on Flickr). Some I gave away or swapped, some are used around my house, and some are stacked up waiting for their turn to be displayed. I still have a few that I finished but they still need their ends tucked in and blocked.

Lately, I've had the urge to crochet doilies. I don't really need more projects to work on, but I'm in denial about that, so I'm not even going to think about it. When I switched from avid doily crocheter to obsessed sock knitter, I left a doily unfinished. What's kind of sad about this, is the doily is only 4 or 5 rounds from completion. So, I figured this is a great way to satisfy my doily-making urge.


A pic of the in-progress doily in its unfinished (and waiting for me to get back to it) state.

The white and blue thread, as well as, the pattern and hook I used were all stored together. The pink thread was a little harder to put my hands on, but I did eventually find it. I'm hoping to finish the crocheting this weekend. And with any luck, blocking will occur soon after that.