Tea Time and a GIVEAWAY ~ 1/18/2024

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~I got the job!  I applied for an administrative assistant position in the Care Coordination Department at our local hospital last Tuesday.  Wednesday they called me to come in for an interview.  Thursday was my interview and they asked me to job shadow for a couple hours which was a good sign!  This Tuesday afternoon I got the call that I was being offered the position!  I accepted and my first day will be February 12th.  I'm hoping all this nasty weather is gone by then :)

~Along with a new job, I decided a new hairstyle was in order.  My pixie had grown out to the awkward stage that comes along with pixies.  So I treated myself to a fresh cut and style.  Now I just need to get my nails done  :)

~Laken has made friends with an exchange student from Finland.  Li is the sweetest girl!  They've had hang outs, a sleepover and went shopping.  Laken introduced Li to Auntie Anne's pretzels.  I'm glad Laken has made a new friend and hope they keep in touch well after Li has to travel home :)

~Litsa from Coco's Crochet is hosting a unique crochet-a-long (CAL) in 2024.  Each "fortnight", she will be drawing an item out of a basket and that will be the "assignment" for those two weeks.  Project#1 is CUP COZIES.  I heard about the CAL from Cassandra at Craftably Ever After and decided to join in.  I've added Litsa's announcement vlog below.  Let me know if you decide to participate :)

~And last, but not least, to celebrate my new job, I'd like to host a GIVEAWAY!  It has been ages since I've had a giveaway here on Colletta's Kitchen Sink Blog.  I tossed around a few different ideas and settled on giving away the following to one lucky winner:

 $25 Starbucks Gift Card

AND

Handmade Cup Cozy in Your Choice of Color

Here's how to enter:

1 ENTRY ~ Leave me a comment telling me what color you would choose for your Cup Cozy

(FOR SOME REASON THE COMMENTING IS NOT WORKING ON THIS POST.  YOU CAN LEAVE A COMMENT BY REPLYING TO MY COMMENT.  SO SORRY!)

1 ENTRY ~ Follow my blog and let me know that you do so (honor system)

BONUS ENTRY ~ Visit Colletta's Kitchen Sink Shop and let me know that you did so (honor system)

I'll announce the winner here on the blog on January 31, 2024!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colletta

Work In Progress ~ Flower Power Square ~ 1/25/20

 



I decided to also join in the Moogly CAL 2020!  The first block is "Flower Power Square" designed by Carolyn Christmas at www.pinkmambo.com .  This was my first square that I've made from this designer.

I'm using these scrappy colors to make my crochet along blocks for as many as it will make:

I enjoying crocheting from this pattern but there were a few spots where I had to guess where to put the next stitch as there weren't many row by row pictures that I find very helpful to have.

I changed my colors every row to make it "scrappier" looking :)

I messed up somewhere along the way.  I had too many stitches and had to "fudge" it with some "crochet-togethers" to get the right stitch count.

The square was only measuring 11" so I added a light purple double crochet row to bring the size up to match my other crochet along squares.

What are you working on?

Colletta





Work In Progress ~ Merlin ~ 1/18/20

 



Ravelry's BAMCAL 2020 January Members Choice block is "Merlin" by Lisa Mauser at www.thislittlehookofmine.blogspot.com .

I'm using these scrappy colors to make my crochet along blocks:

This block used some techniques that I haven't done before such as descending and ascending the "ladder" of previous rows.  I admit that I breathed a sigh of relief when the rows below were finished!

For some reason my computer won't let me make the rest of these pictures larger but this is what the block looks like with the written instructions completed.  It turned out to be 13".

Because it was already 13", I only bordered with a single crochet round of white and a single crochet round of the red.

I'm please with how it turned out.  I really had to concentrate on some parts of the pattern but the writer had lots of "special notes" there were very helpful.

What are you working on?

Colletta





Work In Progress ~ Cheers! ~ 1/11/20

 



 

I decided to jump into some crochet alongs but I didn't want to go out and buy new yarn (well not really that I didn't want to but that I SHOULDN'T buy new yarn :).  I'm using up some skeins leftover from various projects so this will be a "Scrappy CAL".

 

 

The first (January Main) block of Ravelry's BAMCAL 2020 is called "Cheers!" and was designed by Polly Plum who is a marvelous pattern writer!  The pattern says that it is "Advanced" and I had no problem whatsoever following along.

Do you like the pop of red?  I'm not quite sure about it but the hubby said he likes it. 

 

I'm going to add a round of white to every block and crochet them together with the red (probably) to tie them all together.  Here it is finished off:

 

Well, finished off except for tying in all those ends.  I'll get around to it sometime :)

 

The block turned out to be 12.5" before the border rounds.  Polly Plum created a new stitch that she called the Treble W Stitch (Tr-W) which is tr, ch1, tr, ch1, tr.  It was fun to learn :)

 

I was pleased with how it turned out! 

 

Are you participating in any crochet alongs (CALs)?  What are you working on?

Colletta





Make It Monday ~ "Flame Square" and "Festive Julie Ann" ~ 1/28/19

BAWCAL 2019 #2

The second Block-a-Week 2019 hosted by Julie Yeager is a pattern by Jessie at Home called Flame Square.

The original pattern used flame colors of red, orange and yellow.  There were lots of back post stitches in this pattern.  I don't mind back post stitches but they do slow me down a bit even though the effect is lovely.

Moogly Block #2

The Moogly CAL second block is called "Festive Julie Ann" by Linda Dean at www.lindadeancrochet.com.

I really love the texture and "scalloped" look to this block.  The effect was made by using the Long Loop Front Post Double Crochet a row below the round.  I'll admit that I had to start this one twice as I wasn't placing the LLFDC in the right spot to get the off-set color placement.  This block came out to about 10" so I added a few rounds to get it up to the 12" needed.

I now have seven 12"+ squares ready for Laken's Ombre Afghan.  Only 18 more to go!!

Colletta

Make It Monday ~ "Lola Bean" ~ 1/21/19

The second Block-a-Week 2019 hosted by Julie Yeager is a pattern by Shelby Shea called "Lola Bean". 

This was a fun square to make.  I learned a new stitch called the "Bean Stitch" and a light bulb just went off as to why the pattern is called Lola  BEAN!  lol 


Below is an angled shot of the center.  Isn't it pretty?  Such a gorgeous pattern.

I now have five 12"+ squares ready for Laken's Ombre Afghan.  Only 20 more to go!!


Colletta

Stardust Melodies CAL Block 1~ Begin the Beguine ~ 5/22/17

 

 STARDUST MELODIES CAL

 

Block 1

 "Begin the Beguine". 

The Stardust Melodies CAL is hosted by Polly Plum's Posse and can be found at www.everytrickonthehook.com  .  All the blocks (both free and paid) will be based around a classic song.

There will be 12 free pattern that will be released on Mondays and 12 paid patterns that are released on Thursdays.  I decided that I'm only going to crochet the free patterns but will be making 4 blocks of each pattern in 4 different colors.

As I started the first block, I didn't see the pattern emerge right away but as I continued on it became clear.  This is just the Begin the Beguine block without an edging.

 

I also decided that I would add 2 rounds of edging, one in cream and one in mushroom.  I want my finished afghan to be fairly large and adding the border will give me even more dimension.

 

The block itself was easy to make but the first was a bit tedious, as there is counting throughout.  1, 1-2-3.... over and over.  As I made the second, third and especially the fourth block, I had the pattern down pretty well and was able to watch Property Brother and House Hunters while making it :)

 

I had never hear of "Begin the Beguine" before this CAL, so I had to youtube it.  I really liked the Ella Fitzgerald version.  Enjoy:

Please leave me a comment with a link so I can return the visit!!

Linking up to Inspiration Monday, Cooking and Crafting with J&J,  Making Your Home Sing , Inspire Me Monday, Merry Monday , Motivation Monday, Made By You, Creative Mondays, What'd You Do this Weekend and Pieces by Polly Block Party,  Monday's Musing and Making Monday, Stitch It Up and Hooking on Humpday, Yarn Along , Yarn Fanatic , Keep Calm Craft On.

Make it Monday ~ Moogly 2016 CAL #1 and #2 ~ 1/25/16

 

This week I want to show you my squares I've made for the Moogly 2016 CAL.  My colors for this CAL are all RHSS.  Perfect Pink, Buff, Café Latte, Real Teal, Gold and Dark Orchid.  So far we've had 2 squares:

 

#1:  Flame Square by Jessie at Home



 

This block had lots of back and front post stitches that added a lot of texture to the block.  I had to take my time and read the pattern carefully to get them all in the right place.  I had to add a few rounds to make this square come out to 12". 

 #2:  3D Flower Granny Square by Repeat Crafter Me

This block has a fun flower in the center.  I really like how it pop up out of the block.  Once again, I had to add a few rounds of dc in order to reach 12".

I'm edging each square with the Buff as that is the color I will be joining with and I find this a lot easier and pleasing to the eye.

2 down, 22 to go!

Please leave me a comment with a link so I can return the visit!!

Linking up to Inspiration Monday, Cooking and Crafting with J&J,  Making Your Home Sing , Inspire Me Monday, Merry Monday , Motivation Monday, Made By You, Creative Mondays, What'd You Do this Weekend and Pieces by Polly Block Party,  Monday's Musing and Making Monday, Stitch It Up and Hooking on Humpday, Yarn Along , Yarn Fanatic , Keep Calm Craft On.

Make it Monday ~ Larksfoot ~ 1/18/16

 

The Larksfoot Inspired Square is the January 2016 BAMCAL 12 inch filler block.  You can find the free pattern HERE. 

The first block I completed is in my "Red Magnolia Splash" colorway.  I used an I hook instead of the recommended J hook and ended up having to make the last row of the pattern a dc instead of a sc and also had to add an hdc row.

It took me a second to figure out the Larksfoot row and I ended up frogging it the first time!  After I realized that I needed to crochet into the previous stitch rather than the space made by the chain, I was good to go :)

My second block went a lot smoother as I already had the pattern figured out.  My only problem was deciding what color to put where.  It really is a struggle!

This one is crocheted in my "Colorful" colorway.

So which block to you like better?  The "Red Magnolia Splash" or the "Colorful"?

Please leave me a comment with a link so I can return the visit!!

Linking up to Inspiration Monday, Much Ado About Monday,  Making Your Home Sing , Inspire Me Monday, Merry Monday , Motivation Monday, Made By You, Creative Mondays, What'd You Do this Weekend and Pieces by Polly Block Party,  Monday's Musing and Making Monday, Stitch It Up and Hooking on Humpday, Yarn Along , Yarn Fanatic , Keep Calm Craft On.

Make it Monday ~ Circled Granny Square~ 1/11/16

 

 

The Circled Granny Square is the January 2016 BAMCAL 6 inch block.  You can find the free pattern HERE.  I had trouble printing off the pattern so I had to copy and paste the text into a document to get it to print.  The BAMCAL step-by-step pictures really helped me with this first square.

 

The first set I made was in my Red Magnolia Splash color-way.  I really like how these colors are looking together.  This was a fun, easy square to make.  Mine came out a bit on the large size at 6.5 inches so instead of using a dc on the last round I used a sc.  It should be fine once joined with my other squares.

I decided to make 4 of the 6 inch squares and join them into a 12 inch 4-patch square to use in my afghan.  The plan is to do this with the 6 inch pattern each month of the CAL.

My second set of blocks each month will be what I'm calling "Colorful".  This yarn is Red Heart with Love in a variety of colors.  I'm trying to pick them at random as I'm crocheting so I really don't know how the final blocks will look!

 

And here is the final 4-patch of the Colorful set.  I'll be using white to edge each square of this set and also for joining. 

 

I'm loving making these squares!

Please leave me a comment with a link so I can return the visit!!

Linking up to Making Memories Monday, Much Ado About Monday,  Making Your Home Sing , Inspire Me Monday, Merry Monday , Motivation Monday, Made By You, Creative Mondays, What'd You Do this Weekend and Pieces by Polly Block Party,  Monday's Musing and Making Monday, Stitch It Up and Hooking on Humpday, Yarn Along , Yarn Fanatic , Keep Calm Craft On.