Partypalooza 2009!

Emmitt is having a pug party... or rather, um, "obedience school" for pugs. Click to see who else is attending! See you at the party, Emmitt ;)

Dark Lord Day

My friends and me at Three Floyds Brewery on Saturday:


Three Floyds brews a Russian Imperial Stout called "Dark Lord" and it is only available one day a year. This day has turned into a full on festival with guest brews and bands, etc. This past Saturday was my third DLD... had a lot of fun but didn't "over do" it this time ;) The weather was interesting: beautiful to hot to muggy to rainy to windy to suddenly quite cold (that's Indiana for you) at which point a lot of people left or went inside to the cramped space where the bands were playing. We didn't stay much longer after that... I think maybe next year I'll try to get there earlier.

my star afghan pattern

My 6 Point Star Afghanpattern has been used! I've had a few questions from people who are working on it so I know people have tried it. I came across this blog post about it recently: someone finished it and posted a photo. It looks great! It's very cool to see that it worked out well for someone else :) She also has a lot of links to free patterns on her blog so check her out!

Meiby sketches

Just for fun, I thought I'd try to freehand trace some photos of Meiby. Due to an unusual project at work, my interest in Photoshop has been reignited and it just so happens that my husband just bought a Wacom tablet so I had to check it out. Here is the result:

Birthday Beers

I had a birthday party this weekend and everyone brought me tasty beer! I'm looking forward to trying it all and properly tasting and reviewing it. Here's what's on the list:





Unibroue Trois Pistoles
Dogfish Head Pangaea
Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout
Three Floyds Black Sun Stout
Wells Banana Bread Beer
Sprecher Mamma Mia Pizza Beer
New Holland Oak Aged Dragons Milk

... and next weekend: Dark Lord Day!

Carrots!

Meiby's favorite snack is baby carrots. If you ask her to "show me where the carrots are" she will jump up on the fridge. I finally captured the whole event including watching her eat the carrot, pug noises and all. Fair warning, this will probably be boring if you're not in love with pugs like we are :)

Slip Stitch Crochet

I don't normally post specifically about other people's blogs but this is something I haven't seen before. Crocheting with all slip stitches: Slip Stitch Crochet is based on an online book by David Burchall. He has lots of info about the different stitch patterns possible using only slip stitches which end up looking a lot like knit stitches. There are lots of photo examples and will be videos in the future! I'm going to have to try some of these out...

Spiral Crochet Bag Pattern

This post has been moved to StrandOverFist.com. Please update your bookmarks and check there for more patterns :)

Here are two examples of this pattern made with different sized yarn and hooks. The first is made of all worsted weight scrap wool, 2 strands held together and an I hook (5.5 mm). The second is all super bulky weight yarn, made with an L hook and is big enough to fit my laptop. You can use any combination of yarn and hook for this bag.








Each is done in all single crochet starting with a flat rectangle base and spiraling up along each side as follows:

CH 31

Row 1: SC in the second CH from hook and in each CH across. CH 1, turn. (30 SC)

Row 2: SC in each SC across. CH 1, turn. (30 SC)

Rows 3-6: repeat row 2. Don't CH 1 or turn after last row.

This is what you should have so far, in diagram form:



Start Spiral

Round 1: SC in the side of each SC row (6 SC), SC in bottom of each starting CH (30 SC), SC in side of each SC row (6 SC), SC in each SC along top (30 SC). You should now have 72 SC around. Don't join or turn!

Round 2: SC in next SC and in each SC around. Repeat until desired height is reached. Don't finish off yet!

Adding Handles

Once you've reached the height you'd like, lay the bag flat and mark the approximate middle of each side. Count 6 stitches (or any amount you'd like for different sized handles) away from the middle and mark those stitches.

Continue spiraling around until you get to the first marked stitch. *Skip 12 stitches (or however many you marked off) and CH 12.* SC in each SC to next marker. Repeat from * to *. Continue spiraling.

Place 12 SC in CH12 space, SC in each SC, 12 SC in next CH12 space, SC in each SC.

Continue to spiral for 2 to 5 more rows. Sl St in any 2 SC to finish OR Stop where you'd like to place a shoulder strap and don't finish off!

Adding Shoulder Strap

CH1, turn.

Row 1: SC in next 6 SC (or any amount depending on how wide you'd like your shoulder strap), CH1, turn.

Repeat row 1 until strap reaches the length you desire. Attach to opposite side of bag. Finish off.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this pattern. Free for personal use only.

Copyright 2009 - Amy Maxwell