Giddy-on-up!

I'm baaack! and there's lots of catching up to do!

On November 28, my grandfather passed away. I (metaphorically) lost my voice after that and didn't have any interest in blogging. 

However, quite a few weeks later, I'm pretty sure I'm ready to restart this blog! A new name and a new purpose-- HollieJolly Designs suits me better than ATadPlaid :) 

Now, to catch up from where I left off! There has been lots of crocheting since then, but there are only a few things I want to highlight:

First, 2013 has basically been the Year of the Horse for me. I've made quite a few horse things!

The top-left and bottom-right are by FreshStitches, while the loveys are pattern from Bowtykes. Both designers are highly recommended!

I was also lucky enough to test MonstersToybox's first pattern (to be released in a few weeks):

And speaking of first patterns, I'm releasing my own first pattern on February 16! I'll be releasing the Triceratops Lovey pattern on Ravelry, so keep a lookout for when that goes live!

I'm glad to be back in the blog-o-sphere and to share more events and projects of 2013 with you!

A puppy!

A while ago, I posted that I would write about an exciting new family member. We got a puppy!

Her name is Lucy and she's a Beagle/ Cocker Spaniel mix. She is absolutely precious and tiny!

While she's a little cutie, she is a biting/chewing puppy. She loves to chase feet and attack toes. But she's a doll and has brought quite a bit of happiness into our little corner of the world.

Tough Tuesday

Lets go back a bit-- this week has been pretty hectic. 

I'll start with Tough Tuesday-- November 6. The entire day was hectic (I knew it would be), but the reason for the craziness differed from the time of day. 

The day started with voting! Like, "there-when-the-polls-open" started with voting.  

As many of you know, I'm still in University. Which means I still deal with the stress that comes from exams. My first class (Operation and Supply Chain Management) had a huge exam-- and to put it simply, I did not do great on the first one. Thus, test anxiety was in full swing. It didn't help that there was a quiz in the second class too. But I got through them. 

Next on the to-do list, after the tests, was pick up my entries from the state fair. The place was pretty cleaned out by the time I got there around 1:00 p.m. Made it easy enough to scoop up my items and learn about next year's fair. 

Turns out one reason for the chaos was that there were a lot more entries this year than they expected-- for example, to take your items home, you have to sign them out and prove that you're the owner (blahblahblah). The lady in line in front of me had more than 50 entries! And, remember, you can only enter one item per category. So the fair organizers are making a new rule: in order to enter something into the state fair, the entry must win a ribbon in the county fair. Not too big of a deal, but it means that I now have until March to make the new entries, as the county fair is in April; instead of having until September. 

Voting: Check! Tests: Check! Pick up animals: Check! 

And finally, as I'm sure the whole world knows, November 6 was Election Day. I couldn't listen to the counts-- I kept my television on CNN, muted. Listening to an audiobook + crocheting made it a whole lot better. I felt nauseous the entire night. 

Now, I know there is a lot of sensitivity still about the election, so my response tonight will simply be this:

I breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the night. 

Tomorrow will be a post about the good that came from this week-- including an introduction to a new member of the family! 

Knitting and House Elves

There are many times during the day where I'm in the middle of doing something and think a random, craft-related thought. And I think to myself: "Self, you need a crafty friend to tell these things to." Well, as there is a lack of people to text my random craft-related thoughts to, I'll compile them here, on my little-bitty blog, and share them with you! 

First, I'll introduce an important part of me you should know:

I am ultimately obsessed with the Harry Potter series.

There. I said it. Now you know where this post is heading... A Harry Potter talk. 

First, if you've only seen the movies and have not read the books, you do not know even half of the story. I spent the month of October listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as an audiobook. The entire audiobook consisted of 20 hours of reading. The movie takes less than two hours. That's over 18 hours of stuff left out of the movies! But I did learn that audiobooks while driving > listening to the radio.

Second, Molly Weasley knits sweaters for her husband, each of her kids, and even her kids friends. At a minimum, that's nine sweaters to make. Granted, she has magic. But still. Being able to finish projects (especially sweaters!) that quickly would be a serious blessing. 

Third, there is a lot of knitting in Harry Potter. Even Dobby the House Elf knits! I think that's awesome. 

In the spirit of Hogwarts and the Gryffindor house, I leave you with a picture of a Lion Lovey I finished. :) 

Security Blankets

As a crafter, we always seem to go through "phases"-- a bag phase, blanket phase, amigurumi phase, etc. etc. Want to know what mine is right now? 

Security blankets. 

Take a peek:
(All patterns are from BowTykes-- find her on Ravelry or Etsy!)

Well, I've been in a slump the last few days-- currently on day six of being sick; no mind set to study or get school-things done for midterms, and just the overall glum that comes from being in a city that refuses to acknowledge the changing of seasons. 

It makes me wish that an adult-sized security blanket would be acceptable.

Think about it! A giant granny square with a giant owl in the center/on the top.

Crazy idea? Or a clever one? Hmm...

Random Act of Patterns

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep cannot keep it from themselves" - James Matthew Barrie

I believe in the power of kindness. It's an amazingly powerful concept. 

Have you ever had a truly terrible, awful, horrible, no-good, very-bad day? But then someone gives you a compliment or you witness an act of service-- and all of a sudden there's a bit more happiness in your heart? 

I'm sure you have, considering the current popularity of "Random Acts of Kindness" and the phrase "Well, that's my good deed of the day!" 

It seemed fairly simple to do one good deed a day: Hold open a door, pick something up off the floor, let that other car have the parking space. But I always wondered how to apply kindness into the crafting world.

Then, a wonderful thing happened. 

I read a post on Twitter. The post had been re-tweeted a few times before it landed on my feed, but I'm so grateful that it did. 

The original post was written by Knit Purl Girl, and I have since been on a roll with the idea. 

Here's the basic concept:

"I’ve declared that Tuesdays are for Random Acts of Patterns (or RAP). It’s the fibery equivalent to Random Acts of Kindness! Most of us have either randomly given or received patterns, so this is not my invention. However, I’d like to make it a movement and get more people involved! So on any random Tuesday that you feel inclined to and/or can afford to, consider randomly selecting a fellow Raveler and gifting him/her a pattern off of his/her queue."

For more, check out the Ravelry forum about it:

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/friends-of-knitpurlgurl/2319615/1-25

So there you go! Random Acts of Patterns. It doesn't have to be on Tuesdays... whenever you feel like being in the giving spirit! :) Spread a little happiness; spread a little crafting-sunshine! 

In the meantime, while you decide who to spread happiness to and with what pattern, here's a picture of an Owl Lovey I made for a baby shower:

Have a fantastic, craft-filled few days!  

State Fair Results

Last month sometime I dropped off five projects at the state fair as part of the Entry Competition. Judging was to be completed by the time the fair opens. 

So I dropped off my items. 

4/5 entries on drop-off day!

And I waited for the fair to open. I was supposed to go with family, but in a spur of the moment decision, I ended up going on Opening Day and saved $9 on admission. 

So I went! And after much searching, I found all my entries. Here is the quick round-up:

• Singh the Lion (Crochet: Toy, Open Age) = 3rd place
• Milton the Snail (Stuffed Animal: Less than 15") = 3rd place
• Cocoa the Monkey (Stuffed Animal: Greater than 15") = 3rd place
• Scrappy, the Scrap Animal (Crochet: Scrap) = 4th place
• Granny Square Bag (Crochet: Bag) = 4th place

 For this being my first year entering projects, getting a ribbon is a great accomplishment! However, I have a few qualms about the experience. First, I doubt I will enter pieces that are important to me ever again. Singh and Milton were especially important to me, and the hosts are lucky I didn't break through the displays to get them back.

All of my amigurumi entries look like they had been manhandled; they were disfigured and horribly displayed.

Singh the Lion

Singh was squished into the case. If I were to look at it eye-level, all I could see was the body. The picture was taken with me practically kneeling in order to get his face into the picture. 

Scrappy looked fine!

Cocoa's ears and mouth made me really sad-- they didn't make him look properly displayed at all!

And poor Milton's shell looked like the unicorn next to him sat on it. 

Basically, I wish I could have set up the display myself. 

My biggest issue with the experience was that I have no idea what won 1st or 2nd in a majority of the categories. I'm fine with 3rd place-- really, I am! But I wanted to see the awesome work that won 1st and 2nd!

Couldn't find them. 

None of the displays were organized by category. They were scattered around everywhere in the huge place. I read the tags for every toy, every stuffed animal, everything that would qualify as the categories... and found nothing! 

I did find 1st place in the Scrap category, though! It was a beautifully done blanket. 

Will I make items for next year? Yeah, most likely. Will I make stuffed animals? Nope, probably not. 

Have you entered any items into a fair? What was your experience like? I want to hear!