FINALLY Some Etsy Listings!!!

I am so proud and excited to announce that I have finally listed three of about eight of my hand-knit baby/toddler blankets and throws on Etsy! Here is my shop: Zelaya Art  I like to say baby/toddler blankets because the blankets are pretty large and thick... perfect for a baby to grow up with and use as an older toddler.  All of my blankets are GREAT gift ideas for things like baby showers, birthdays, wedding showers, etc. Please give my shop a look!

I was worried about capturing the blankets properly in my pictures, but I seem to have done a pretty good job, I think. Any feedback would be much appreciated! 

A Plethora of Miscellaneous-ness

As you're about to find out, this post is aptly-named :)

Firstly, I'd like to mention I finally finished my very first afghan! As you know, I am pretty much still a novice knitter, not because I have been knitting for a short time, but because I'm not great at learning new things. Also because I am quite content hanging out in the "novice" phase. I am not good at following patterns, and like I've mentioned before, I knit like I cook.. just throw it together. So, for my afghan, I simply knit, in garter stitch, about 15 13in x 13in squares and sewed them together. I was so very proud of this afghan that was 2 months in the making, all the way up until it got a hole in it. I have no idea how it happened since the hole was smack dab in the middle of a square, but I managed to sew up the hole. It is quite an obvious patch-up-job that I'm a little upset about, but I'll get over it. You live and you learn, right? Currently I am working on another afghan similar to this one, but in different colors. The new one will be a pretty sage color, a darkish blue, and a light blue.

Another project I just finished, this one a small one, is a tiny baby hat that I knit for Knits For Needs using some yarn donated by one of our members. Please click on that link to view our latest blog post. For some reason, this particular hat got twisted the first time around. I guess I managed to do that when I was joining in the round, although I really have no idea how it happened. I posted "Help!" on Twitter and everyone told me I'd have to frog it and start over. So I did, and when I did it didn't even unravel well. It was somehow all tangled up. The first picture here shows when I was trying to unravel it. Then you can see that I started over, this time perfectly successfully, and finished the hat. I love the square shape and the pom-poms!
















Next I'm going to share some things unrelated to my knitting endeavors, the first of which is our rats. We got two rats for the kids for Christmas. Two of our kids are allergic to cats and dogs, so we collect miscellaneous animals, like fish, hermit crabs, and, now, rats. I did some research before getting these new additions... "Should we get a hamster? Mice? Rats?".. and I found out that rats are actually great pets for small children since they don't bite and they are highly intelligent, well, at least compared to their other furry cousins. You can actually train them, which I was surprised to find out. Ours already know their names and come to you when called. They are named Juniper and Jules. The one in the pictures is the most social one, Juniper. The other is a bit darker and likes to hide from us a lot, hence, I do not have pictures of her. Here you see a terrible picture of me hanging out with Juniper and my awesome, and now favorite, sweatshirt. The other picture shows my daughter Sierra with Juniper.

Next amongst the plethora of miscellaneous-ness is my new haircut. This first picture is me and the hubby on New Year's Eve and, as you can see, I had long hair. The next picture is my new haircut, which I love because it is so much easier to deal with.

Thanks for hanging out in Merf's Turf for awhile! Come back soon :)

I'm Still Alive

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile. Yes, I am still alive. I just haven't had much to say, I guess, and I've spent most of my blogging time updating the Knits For Needs blog. Also, I have been terrible about taking pictures of my knitting, unless it is for Knits For Needs, in which case those pics go on the KFN site.

I just started working on my first ever blanket/afghan!! Since I'm not great at following a pattern, unless it is amigurumi, I am just knitting 15 inch x 15 inch squares and sewing them together. I knit like I cook: no recipes needed, just throw it together :) Before I sew, or is it knit(?), them together, I need to do some research about how this is done. I did watch one YouTube video this morning and I think I found out how I'm going to attempt it. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3rvJx3-9Xs The method I think I'll use is called "Weaving". It looks simple enough.

I recently did a craft fair at my kids' school and it did not go so well. I displayed about 15 hats, 15 scarves, and a multitude of cell phone cozies, purses, and coinpurses. To see a pic of these items, scroll down to the previous post.. they're all pictured there. In previous years, I have done well at this craft fair, but this year I think, with all of the economic hardship people are having to deal with, people just did not want to part with their money. I think they were looking for cheap trinkets, and that is not what I specialize in. Oh well, there is always next year. I really should look for other craft fairs in which to participate, but I'm not sure what holds me back. I mean, I've got a bin full of beautiful items.. I should sell them. Should I open an Etsy shop? Food for thought.

Another item on my needles is an amigurumi monkey. I found it at this site that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE: http://knittedtoybox.blogspot.com/ Another GREAT shop for knit amigurumi is Jelly Bums.

My husband has this week off for Thanksgiving, so do the kids, and I happen to have today off so we're all piling into the car in a few minutes to eat at IHOP... Yum!! I think I'll go see if everyone is ready...