Chinese Dragon shawl... FINISHED 12-12-12!!!

Yatta! My Dragon shawl is finished! I love it so much! I thought after all the work I did on it, that I wouldn't want to do the beaded edging, but, it needed to be done, and I finished it today, on 12-12-12! What a great way to remember!
Here is the photo.. click on it to see it larger.

It is 68 inches at the widest point, a great size for me! I used around 1000 beads, give or take a few, on the edge. Wow, I can't believe I did it! I actually had to go online to learn to filet crochet, THAT'S how much I wanted this shawl.  I found a mistake on row 16 or so, when I was on row 18, so I had to rip back two rows, but really that was the only problem. I used 4 balls of crochet cotton (it called for 5), but I have heard others used more than 5.  The pattern was in the Interweave Crochet Magazine, Fall 2012.

If you are on Ravelry, you can see my project page (battatter) with pictures from the beginning and LOTS of notes.

Can I say, I LOVE THIS SHAWL!

Chinese Dragon Shawl

Well, I haven't been knitting, but I have been crocheting. During the LOTR swap, a shawl was shown that I fell in love with. But the problem was, it was filet crocheted, and I didn't know how to do that (really, I am only a single crochet gal, doing mostly amigurmi, or toys).

So, I hunkered down and went online and learned to filet crochet. It is taking me a while to make this shawl, called the Chinese Dragon shawl, but it is going to be so worth it! I am hoping to have it finished before Christmas.  The pattern is in Interweave Crochet fall 2012. I can't show a picture, 'cos they are copywritten, but here is what I have so far of mine... if you can see, the wings are showing!

I have more than this finished at the moment, but not a recent photo. More to come!

Lord of the Rings swap 2012!

Oh, my gosh, this was such an epic swap! You would not believe the amount of work and creativity people put into their packages!
I tried my best, and think I did ok. My spoilee was ashpags, and here is what she got.

She got a chunky leaf shawl, with a real Mallorn leaf pin. Fellowship stitch markers I made, with a glow in the dark Gandalf. Felted quiver with a mallorn leaf to hold knitting needles or a water bottle. Celtic tatted necklace, knitted leafy mitts (I really love those!), Eye of Sauron pin cushion, hand painted Tree of Gondor shirt, tatted spider and web bookmark, leaf fabric,  moon and star bracelet ('cos she is an astronomer!), and since it was her birthday, I made a little Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy necklace of a whale and a petunia.
 She also received haribu candy, Crunchies (dried fruit), and a few patterns.  Oh, and she also received THE ONE RING!. I don't know why I didn't have a photo of it. hm.

Then, I waited patiently for my package. And when it arrived... well, I was floored!
Looooooky!

Can you believe she made all of this for me!? First the Smaug socks. Yes, I said socks! So beautiful! She made this giant Smaug dragon quilted project bag! It is fabulous!  Next, Endomiel mittens with Arwen's necklace as the cable pattern. Gorgeous! She also made me this super awesome Dragon's Egg purse. I love it so!

Really, there was more! I couldn't believe it. She hand covered this journal and gave me pens in my favorite colors, knitted a Shelob square to go on my Ravelry Halloween afghan,  she made the Elven ear cuffs (sooo cute!). She also got me some crystals and hand wired one to make a necklace. Also, a dragon bookmark and keychain, beautiful little stitch markers, raspberry tea, no bake cookies (they are almost gone now!), and she made Rebel a rattle toy dog bone and sent him some chicken treats. (which he LOVED). Finally, she sent the rest of the leftover yarn from the socks which turned out to be 160 yards. And, some other beautiful blue and black yarn. She hand dyed the yarns, so they are even more special! Wow.. I made out like a bandit, didn't I.  YEAH!!! Thanks to Hermionejean!!!

Star Wars swap to and fro!

I had the pleasure of being in a Star Wars swap recently. This is what I made for my swap partner, Caitinc.

She loves Keroppi, and so I made her a Keroppi Yoda. I also made the Ewok purse, hood for the vintage ewok, Yoda hat for her dog, (being modelled by Rebel), a Journal with an original Ewok toy cover, Stitch markers, Han Solo soap, Tatted necklace she liked on Etsy(I made her a copy), light saber needle holder, Nightmare before Christmas stitch markers, little Millennium Falcon necklace. I also bought her dpn holders, candy, Wookie Cook Book, yanr, and gave her some vintage cups and Kneesa bank I had.
Here's what I received from my partner. Well, she wasn't my original partner. My original partner
'flaked' on me, and they had to get someone to fill in for her. As a result, I received the package over a month later. But, it was worth the wait! And You-von did a great job!

She sent me a very cool t shirt with Jack Russells on it, yay! She also sent these uber soft mitts, gorgeous yarns, and all the toys! There is a SW tin box full of stickers, little Yoda, mini figurines and extras, playing cards,  and Mug and insulated cup (I use those every day!) and a blow up light sabre. You can see.. Rebel likes playing with that! Thanks a bunch You-von!!

Harry Potter swap.. from ladymay

Wow. Want to see what I received from ladymay? First, I received this HUGE box! (I couldn't stop saying "holy crap"!haha..)

You can see how big it is compared to my big boy Rebel.

Open says me...

Look at all the packages.. plus one not shown..

My very own mandrake! And the gloves to handle it with! I named it Manny.

Cute little project bag and doggy fabric!!!

Tons of candy from Honeydukes..yum

Mini skeins, and project bag from "Lily".

Cool calendar that talks, my patronus.. dog, HP book, sorcerer's stone, Butterbeer mug,

and my new favorite thing to eat... cracked pepper triscuits!

Phoenix project bag and ribbon

HP postcards and bag from exhibit!!

Beautiful yarns and large picture of gifts.

Closer view of yarn and counter and scissors.

Patterns! Yeah! I love these patterns.. and have since made two shawls

from one of them!

And last but not least.. slippers. So comfy!

See? I got really spoiled! Thanks so much ladymay.

Harry Potter swap gifts to Iamsta

Here, in a nutshell, are the knitted/crocheted things I made.
Snape ... transfiguration spelled into Mr. Spock.

Wand mitts with Gryffindor colored owls and her full name in Runes.

                                 A phoenix feather quill, and a time turner tape measure.

These are the needlwork handmades. Here is a photo of all of her gifts.

And yes, I made her a wand from my Ash tree with a phoenix feather (cardinal) core. It is able to be

openned to see the feather.

Shawl pin, tote, seeds,  stitch markers, patterns and more.

I am glad she loved it all.

BBC Baby.. What I got... wow..

I received the most awesome package from plainsimplegarak! I begin by saying upon opening the box, the first package that said  me first.. was treats for Rebel.  These kept him busy while I sorted out the rest.. oh my..

Each package was labeled with a photo and a message from the Doctor of that number.

Ok so what I got..

Doctor 1..the treats for Rebel

 Doctor 2 Gel pens

Doctor 3 mmmm hazelnut coffee

Doctor 4 Jelly Babies!

Doctor 6 Cool decal of his name

Doctor 7 cable needles!love

Doctor 8 and David Rimmer...BEAUTIFUL HAT!

Doctor 9 Hitchhikers Guide jounal book!

Doctor 10 .. lovely smooshy yarn!

Doctor 10 mini lego of himself.. so cute!

Doctor 11... Dishcloth for my afghan collection of the DW logo!

And finally.. in the 12th package, I thought I might cry.. these terribly awesome, fantastic

TARDIS socks!! OMG!!  I had them 'faved' but I never thought I would get them!

Wow wow wow. And.. they fit me perfectly!

I am so thankful to psg for spoiling me so very rotten!!!!!

BBC Baby Swap March/April 2012

Here is a photo of the handmades I made for my spoilee, winterblizzard.  I did a Doctor Who theme for her. I made her Steampunk inspired Doctor Who Scarf wrist warmers, a little Tardis Fascinator hat, complete with real Blue Jay feathers, I made little charms of resin with her photo with the Doctor in them, and hand painted shoes with her favorite images and people from the show. Hope she liked it.