What have I gotten myself into?

As far as first projects go, this one seems never-ending!  Not that I'm complaining per-say.  I finally got a chain laid out so I can see how wide this afghan will be using a row of 10.  It's just wide enough for one person...and I then realized that using 10 across and the 9 high I was originally planning would not be big enough for me.  So after doing some measuring I decided to go 10 wide and 13 high.

I will need 130 squares...

Only 92 more squares to go... It seems like a lot, but it will be worth it in the end when I can have something so colorful and fun that I made!  It's so much fun choosing the color combinations.  I have several multi-colored yarns to choose from, and the traditional plain yarns.  There is one skein of yarn that I will be using on a different project later down the road, but I couldn't help but put some of that beautiful blue into this afghan.


My rat terrier Storm is usually the one that can be found under a blanket with me, my mutt Fergus usually just lays on top.

This afghan is proving to be no different. He is already all over it!  And you can also find him snuggled up right next to me while I crochet up some squares. Which is what I'm going to go back to working on!

Still crocheting along!

I finally had the chance to go to my neighbor's house and see the "room we don't speak of" and get more yarn. Oh goodness!  That is a LOT of yarn!!!!  I'm so jealous of her fabulous selection!  So I brought home several partial skeins and a few full skeins of patterned yarns, or super colorful yarns.  I think I may be set on yarns, at least for a little while!

Today we went to Cabela's, there is an upcoming camping trip, and we need supplies.  So I took the basket of completed squares with me so I could start the binding process I decided to use.  The original pattern calls for whip-stitching the squares together to form a row.  The using the main color do a row of half double crochets between each row with a final border of half double crochets around the entire perimeter.  I however have mastered the double crochet, so that's what I am using.

After doing over 20 squares I decided to change the pattern just a bit, it's all part of making this my own afghan.  Instead of doing a chain 4 and create a circle and DC into the center I found a video on how to make a magic circle.  So now my stitches are even, equal, and you can't really see the opening in the center.  As I am still new to crochet, trying to describe the creation of the magic circle I'm going to post the video, she uses a single crochet but it works to do the chain 3 and 16 2dc for the granny squares.

I am going to attempt to show and explain the one sided border that I am using to attach the squares together.

First, grab a completed square, and tuck the ends of the yarn in weaving it among the completed stitches and snip so the square is "pretty"

Then, in the ch2 space slip the crochet hook in, and grab a loop of the main color.

Bring it through and ch3 to start the border.

Dc12 (includes the ch3) to the end of the square.  Make sure you leave a tail long enough to whip stitch it to the next square.

Below is a chain of squares I started on earlier today.

Have fun creating!

A new type of design

Road trip!  Two whole days in the car, what to do?  I decided to finally learn how to crochet.  My super awesome neighbor came down on Thursday before my DH and I left and I picked out a pattern that can be found here or just click on the picture!

Now this is not my afghan, I'm still working on mine.  But as a beginning projects go it's a "fast" one.  Each square is completed on it's own so there is a sense of completion, and it's so fun trying new patterns using color within each square.

Above is a picture of some of the squares I have completed in the last few days, I already have a yen to get more yarn, so I will be raiding my neighbors house tomorrow in search of "weird" and different colors!

More to come, so check back soon to see the progress!

Multipurpose

I've been working on a new project.  I have the opportunity to do a pro bono project, turning an old church, into a useful multipurpose building for youth group, a contemporary service, and a coffee and snack area.  The church has owned this building for a number of years, and it is currently largely unused.

The decor needed to be geared towards young adults, in the 20-30 year range.  The color pallet I chose is elegant and modern.

I gave the church two options for the coffee and snack area.

The first option kept the small two piece bath that is currently there.  Flipping the sink from the main room into the office and adding cabinets on the back wall for more storage.  Opening up the window, and adding a small 10" counter for setting coffee pots and other items on.

The second option would be a bit more expensive as it would mean taking down the walls to the bathroom, capping the toilet and using the plumbing for the sink for the plumbing for the new kitchen sink.  The cabinetry would extend on two sides of the room giving more storage space and more prep space.

The main space would be visually divided by the furniture in the room.  The church requested pub height tables and chairs.

At the opposite end of the space is the baptismal.  It is currently blocked off and not working, but the plans are to fix it, and revamp it so it can be part of the decor.  My plans are to remove the current orange painted paneling and to drywall the entire wall, painting it off white so it can be used with projectors.  The paneling in the baptismal area is to be replaced with faux barn wood. And finished with a Styrofoam cross created by the youth group.

The current ceiling fans need to be replaced, and new carpeting throughout!  I am excited to hear back from the presenter to hear which option the church chooses, and to hopefully be involved in the remodel process!

Kitchen Re-doux

The last major project in our house is nearing completion.  We decided to remodel the kitchen, and tonight I was able to start loading the cabinets! Why are you just now hearing about it?  Good question, but lets get caught up with the project to date!

Demolition was planned for April 23rd. Yup Easter weekend, and right before my last regular week of classes before a week of finals.  My parents came up on the 22nd to help me pack up everything in the kitchen to prep for the fun part.  It took almost all day, and a few bumps and bruises (one that I still have a month later, yeah ouch) but we finally got everything taken out, and cleaned up!

My favorite part of the demo was finding out that the insulation in the walls was Gustin Bacon...yup, only the bacon queen would have bacon insulation, this means that I win the bacon contest forever!  LOL

All of the old paneling had to go, so to save time we just removed all of it and started from scratch, and added a half wall...

 

After that things moved along nicely!  We only had a week to do the 24 hour thing, so we are now just doing it a little bit at a time.  I helped stain the cabinets, and used that wonderful dark brown Jacobean I had used last semester on the bench project...Looks great!

Finally it was time to get all the drywall up, taped and mud-ed, then to re-spray knockdown on the ceiling (thanks Adam!)

After the walls were painted, and cabinets installed (sans doors) we were finally able to lay the tile floor, and grout!  I love the way it turned out, not bad for re-sale tile!

So now here we are one month later, most of the doors are on the cabinets (a few need to be re-drilled to open the other direction), the appliances are in place (all the plumbing needs to be done still so no dishwasher or sink), counter tops are installed...this week we are working on the trim for the windows then we can tile the back-splash!  Course the East wall still needs custom cabinets, but we are going to build those ourselves after we get the kitchen functioning!

Almost forgot the vent hood for over my stove!  We purchased it at a resale store, got a great deal on it, but we have to keep calling to get more parts for it because it had been altered, or was missing a few things!  Luckily for us the replacement parts aren't costing us a thing, just time!

I was excited to be able to cook a meal in the kitchen the other day, nothing special, just bacon and eggs for breakfast!  But it is really nice to be able to cook again!  And soon I will be able to do my dishes in the dishwasher instead of the bathtub!

Till next time...
Onward

Competitions

My second place design.  A little bummed that I didn't win, but then again I was up against Senior Graphic Design Majors so that's pretty "shweet."

The other competition is just within my class and my design looks like this:

I'll let everyone know when we find out who is the winner and stuff...

The Tassie

My final project this semester for Restaurant and Store Planning was to create a concept, menu and layout for an existing space.  The following renderings are from that project, all of the drawings were originally done in Auto CAD, then imported into Google Sketch-up and rendered, and otherwise created.  All of the materials shown in the renderings are the actual material I would use in the space.