Technically this is WIP Wednesday #39 for me, but I have way too many FOs to post, so I’m usurping WIP Wednesday for an FO. :) My WIPs are down my sidebar anyway.

Today’s FO is a Chansey catnip toy, which was a commission from a friend. The first Pokémon game describes Chansey as “A rare and elusive Pokémon that is said to bring happiness to those who manage to get it.”

I had to size it down from the original pattern to make it a better size for kitties to nom on. The hair pieces would have been so tiny I’d have gone crazy trying to crochet them, so they became icords.

And here is a picture of one of the pleased recipients. :)

OM NOM NOM NOM

For more works in progress, check out Tami’s Amis WIP Wednesday post for this week!

Since I had a rather mopey week last week due to my layoff, you’d think I wouldn’t have anything to squee about. But there’s something to squee about today!

I finally went to the florist and got all my bridal party flowers picked out. Now, I suck at naming flowers, but luckily the florist sent me a paper with all the important ones on there. And I took some pictures of the pictures in the book (yo dawg?) so I could show them to people.

That’s basically my arm bouquet. The calla lilies will be white instead of green. The dendrobium orchids are staying green, and there will also be some yellow oneidium orchids.

My man will be getting the green dendrobium orchids. :)

As for the bridesmaids:

They also get arm bouquets because I don’t like traditional poofy round bouquets. Theirs will be yellow cymbidium orchids.

All the groomsmen will also get yellow cymbidium orchids. Men in our immediate families will get cymbidium orchids as well (some will be white), and the women will get matching double-orchid wrist corsages.

Since there was so much wiggle room in our budget (thanks, Mom2!) I inquired about getting flowers for the mantle at Cottage Green so we could do pictures there instead of outside.

Sort of blah, am I right? According to this paper I have here, the mantle will have a long piece consisting of cymbidium orchids, dendrobium orchids, calla lilies, oncidium orchids, bells of Ireland, yellow lilies, and green spider mums. I CAN’T WAIT.

What did you squee about this week?

I suppose some of you may be wondering where I’ve been all week. The fact is, I got laid off last Friday and I haven’t really felt like blogging since then.

To help relax me and to fill in time in between me trying to write new copy and figure out what I’m doing with my career website, I’ve been taking some crochet toy commissions from friends. It isn’t something I can make a living off of, but it’s better than sitting idly, staring at my screen and wondering how to brand myself.

This monkey is the first of 4 toys I’ve made so far, and I have a few more queued up (some of which might even take me into a new job, if I get one within a month). It was for a little 1-year-old boy for his birthday. My friend informs me that the monkey is now called “‘Naner”. I think the recipient looks very happy with it!

This kid's pleased as punch!

Since I missed WIP Wednesday, here’s the WIP pictures I took throughout and posted on Facebook for her to see.

If you want to see more finished objects, check out Tami’s Amis.

First up is my wedding garter. I have a cheapie one to toss that my mom picked up at Joann’s, but I wanted to make my own. I decided to knit it instead of crochet because I found a free pattern online that knits with lace weight yarn, and that would allow me to use the leftover yarn from my veil.

Garter at 6 pattern repeats

It’s being knit on size 0 needles, and it’s SO TINY. I only used these needles once before on my Gansey Girl socks, and the yarn for that was much thicker and easier to tension.  I’m at about 11 repeats in, and it’s at about 14 inches when a bit stretched. I think I am going to stop around 18 inches stretched.

Since I am afraid to take the garter anywhere, I finally cast on something with the Slubtastic yarn I mentioned a few Squee Sundays ago: a hooded scarf.

Slubtastic Hooded Scarf

It’s so ugly. I LOVE IT OMG. I took that pic when the hood was halfway through. I just finished the decreases on it and I think it’s about to split up for the scarf part. Very exciting stuff!  The pattern didn’t call for the hood to be sewn up until the end, but I already sewed it up because the yarn end was in my way and there’s really no reason not to sew it up. It isn’t like this yarn is gonna block well to help with the seaming.

For more works in progress, check out Tami’s Amis WIP Wednesday post for this week!

My prize for entering the Crystal Palace Yarn Miters Knit Along came in! It was a random number drawing done from all the finished projects that were entered. I entered in the Baby Dragon Scarf I made out of Panda Superwash.

My prize was 2 skeins of CPY Aria in the colorway Carmen!

Where...in the world...is.. CARMEN SANDIEGO?

It’s one of their newest yarns and not much has been made with it yet. There’s been a few dropstitch scarves, but because people have already been doing them and there’s not much pattern variety yet, I feel like it is my duty to make something else with it.

I’m gonna go with a Self-Fringing Shawl, but not with two strands held together. I’ll do one ball up to the middle, and one ball back. I think it’ll work rather well. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep it on size 15 needles or drop it down to size 13 since I won’t be holding it double, but I still want loose stitches to show off the yarn. I guess we’ll see!

What did you squee about this week?

Figured you guys would want to see something other than gloves this week. :)

This hat took me about 5 hours to do. The pattern calls for them to be knit with size 8 needles, but so many people said it came out too small that I knit mine with 10s instead. I had to add 2 rows of garter stitch and 2 rows of stockinette before the crown decreases to get the proper length, but the rest of the fit is perfect, as you can see!

I had just a smidge of yarn left over after doing the tassels.

Someone said that this hat is bad to wear when it’s windy because it doesn’t stay down over the ears, but mine is tight enough that it seems like it stays down okay. I’ve been taking my hair out of my ponytail to help cover my ears, but the way the back is shaped allows for my pony tail to be there if I want.

Go to Tami’s Amis to see what other people finished this week!

First, I got to the edging chart on the Juneberry shawl. This is gonna take me a while, but here’s how it’s looking unblocked. I think I have about 6 repeats done at the moment.

I got a couple of skeins of KnitPicks Swish Bulky with the giftcard one of my friends gave me at my bridal shower, and worked on both of them. First, I made a Capucine, which is now finished. But here’s a WIP picture of it!

And then I started in on a pair of Zephyr Mitts. I’m hoping to have enough to make them full-on mittens. This is exactly where I’m at with them right now.

For more works in progress, check out Tami’s Amis WIP Wednesday post for this week!

I went to see Man Man again last night! I know I squeed about Man Man before, but this time we went to Sketch Burger before the show. It’s a really small restaurant, but the burgers are HUGE and delicious! And the shakes are good, too!

The concert was at Union Transfer, which is a venue we haven’t been to before. Todd says it’s only been open for a year or so and that it used to be a Spaghetti Warehouse. I liked it and I wouldn’t mind seeing more concerts there, which is good because we’re going to one in April. =D

Off topic a bit, anyone who knows me knows I hate most slow songs. I don’t know what it is, but they just irritate me, which is bad because I need some slow songs for my wedding. do you think this one by Man Man is way too sad to play? Todd and I both like it, but most people want love songs or some crap, I dunno.

What did you squee about this week?

You guys tired of seeing me use this pattern yet? Tough. I still have a bunch of ‘em to post, ha HA!

Need a hand?

Of note, I did these as a request for my pole dance instructor, and I was paid $20 for them. Totally worth it, especially considering I had to rip the darn things once. I wouldn’t charge that much for a pair of these in acrylic yarn, though, and I think I’d charge more if the yarn included something like silk or angora. I think it’s a fair price for a super soft merino wool, though!

Go to Tami’s Amis to see what other people finished this week!

Seriously, DROPS? Sock with holes? I know you guys are completely lazy at naming your patterns, but at least you could make them sound attractive. Do you need me to look at your stuff and come up with descriptive names for you? What about “Lacy Chevron Sock” or “Lacy Sock with Seed Stitch Bands” or SOMETHING that lets people know it’s LACE and not HOLES in your socks??