Happy Monkey!

I mean... Happy Monday! Is this ADORABLE or what?!
See OG post here.
I cannot believe how cute this looks on that little cutie pie.
Getting this pic made my day!!!

Inspiration: Urban Outfitters

Well it was a rip-off filled trip to Urban Outfitters this weekend. But instead of being ripped off by an over-priced frame, I am going to be the one ripping things off! Ripping off some pillow designs! I have been wanting some pillows for our couch for a while, but I am kind of anti-traditional crochet projects. These UO pillows were looking pretty cool, but, of course, they were totally falling apart. If my pillow is going to fall apart, I want it to be because of my own shoddy workmanship. I love love this, but I cannot find a chevron stitch in rounds! Any help??

Ohhhh to have time to crochet! Work has been insane lately. Off to have some beers & watch a movie!

Picture Yourself on a Boat

Saturday I went shopping with Iron Martin, and I found this lace frame jewelry holder at Urban Outfitters on sale for $28. I thought it would be awesome for displaying my beach Polaroid pics, but I thought I could make a way cooler frame for way cheaper. (Online they are selling it for $19.99, originally $48!)So Iron Martin & I set sail for thrift shops to pick up the materials. We ended up at Housing Works, finding an empty frame for $1.50 and a shawl for $5! I hot glued the shawl to the frame: pure genius.We picked our fav beach pics, and I added a dot of hot glue to the back of each to stick them on the frame. We agree the shawl is cooler than lace for this since it looks more like fishing net. The frame is pretty junky, kinda like it was pulled out from the Titanic's wreckage.Clockwise from top right: me jumping in the ocean, Iron Martin soaking the sun, me on the fishing boat on the bay, Iron Martin displaying a crabby fished from the bay. Finally, here is a side by side of the frame I saw at Urban and the frame I made. What do you think??

Speaking of Polaroid pics, I almost spent $24 at Urban for Polaroid film expiring this past June. Damn you, Urban! That place highly appeals to my impulse-purchase sensibilities. Thankfully Iron Martin was there to talk me off the ledge.

Goldilocks

Stop me if you've heard this one. It goes something like this: a blognobbing, crochet girl with goldeny locks spends hours upon hours attempting to make a crocheted strawhat. The first hat was too small. The second hat was too big. But the THIRD hat was JUUUUUST right.
Getting close on the straw hat, boys & girls.

Additionally, this whole hat debacle/extravaganza has proven to me something that Natalie Dee suggested just the other day...Yeah... it rules for half-finshed strawhats too:

On that note, Iron Martin and Mr. Kitten just yelled to me it's bedtime.

Nighty night!

This Time Tomorrow...

I will hopefully have a handmade sunhat as adorable as this.
I think I pulled these pics off Anthroplogie(?).

World's Most Boringest Craft Project

This summer's trend in the crooked nook? Cut-off sweatpants. Psych, we have been rocking cut-off sweatpants for years. Today was a particularly hot day in the nook, and we took it into our own hands to get our comfort on. Enjoy the journey in pics!

Fall Cleaning

As I noted in a previous post, I am o-so over summer projects (even the sunhat, but I don't want that raffia to dry out!). I decided to take some inventory, and I actually have a lot of good fall/winter yarn to work with. Here is a pic of what my craft drawers blarfed up the other day:

Behind the Scenes

Hiya, all! I know in blog world it may seem like I am not doing much, but really, I am still crocheting when I get the chance. I may still use these appliques so I don't want to say what they were for, but regardless, here is some proof that I am still working with pics of some projects I am currently putting on hold.

I love summer more than any season, but this year I am feeling ready for fall. I have over 17 projects in the pipeline, and I just can't get motivated for any summer season projects. Currently working on the yellow beret I mentioned here, and this weekend (after two failed attempts) I am forcing myself to complete my summer sunhat before the raffia dries out. There is still time to wear it before Labor Day!

You Should Know...

The weather is very Autumn-like, and all I can think about today is buying yarn!

I miss Knit New York; I hope they open a new location soon.

Blogs & Knitting & Shower Curtains, o My!

Finally, finally something crochet (ish) to blog about! I was readin my fashion blogs, and I found this post by The Owls are Not What They Seem.

She is blogging about hand-knitting bath mats and bath robes -- so fun! She is obviously very talented, and I am totally jealous. But best part best: she has the same shower curtain as me!

Here is my lovely curtain. I actually posted it on Facebook with the caption, "this makes me the happiest person on earth."

Now... methinks I need to start hand-crocheting some bath mats for Kitten to pee on?!

Sunburst

Oh I know I know I know... it's a craft and crochet blog, and here I am blogging about my vacation! Just wanted to remind you that I love your readership with a lil post. I have nothing else to show you since I was bursting with sunshine all last week!

I am currently still planning on completing my sunhat and working on a couple new fall projects (baby diapers! hoodies!). So many ideas, so little time.

Clockwise from top left: In shades at Candy Kitchen, On the bay, cheese fries at Dumser's, eating bait on a boat in the bay, on a canon in Gettysburg, under pool water, riding waves, camping, beach smooch, catching fishies, radness under water, biking, moon rise, fisherman, shades, playing in the waves.
Center: Sunset on the bay.

Also Applies to Crochet #2

BAHAHA! I mean... I can never figure out gauges; I guess that is why so many of my projects end in failure! One of the hazards of teaching yourself how to crochet.

More funny here.

Hilarious

This cartoon made me laugh out loud. I love Natalie Dee! I mean no disrespect to any of my wonderful friends or supernice strangers who have said that to me before about crochet. I just think this is HILARIOUS. The title of it is: "You are free to learn how to do stuff at any time." Amazing.

I had to censor part of this cartoon, but you can see it in all its raunchy glory at NatalieDee.com. Side note: very hard to type with a cat trying to mush and face-slam you!

Fish Davis

This blog post is for, and in honor of, two of my favorite ladies. The below craft snap shot is for Casey in particular. One day we attempted to make adorable clay animal sculptures for our boys. I don't think Casey had an oven; but even if she did, we decided to use the toaster oven to bake our creations. Here is my burnt fish, missing his tail. I can't believe Iron Martin kept this. Maybe because it is so pathetic?!

I am not at work!!

In the spirit of celebrating not being at work, here are some shots of the building I work in!

In this pic, you can see the posts outside the entrance and the big, ornate door. You can also see the building, which looks like it is chopped off at the top. You can learn more about it here, but the interesting part is summarized in this excerpt:

ELEVEN MADSION (sic) AVENUE was originally designed as a 100-story tower, which would have made it the tallest building in the world at that time. However,
following the Great Depression, plans were scaled back to the building’s
present design.

Here are a couple pics of Madison Square Park, where I used to grab a full hour-long lunch three years ago with Brooke & Christine when I worked 4 blocks away at Ziff Davis. Sometimes I will walk through it with Sheetal as a mini-break.

Ah, building, you are so lovely inside, and I am o-so happy to not be in your walls right now!! The middle shot is of the wall/ceiling after you walk past security and before you enter the elevator banks. I got yelled at for taking pics so that is all I could get. The bread on this pic sandwich is the entrance from the west side. There are painted portraits lining the walls. It is a gorgeous building, but luckily, I am not there right now!!!

Happy Birthday, Iron Martin!

I am at the beach with Iron Martin today, celebrating his birthday! I thought this drawing was perfect for the occassion... Iron Martin+Crafting+Beach! When he got his wisdom teeth out, I made Iron Martin this card. On the front is the beach scene; and in the inside is a comic strip about him getting his teeth out, including dolphins high-fiving and the teeth waving good-bye. I mean, the inside of the card contains far too much awesomeness for this blog. I am sure I miss you all...psych!! I may never come back!!
xoxo
Katiebeans

Sketches

While I am on vacation, I want to fill your potential TeaBeans void with some craft-related blogging. Above we have four sketches personally picked out by Iron Martin as his favorites from a book I made him which was a calendar countdown until he moved to New York with me. The book includes collage, watercolor, stickers, games, etc, but he liked these colored pencil sketches the best.

Clockwise from top left: A border collie herding our "curlies" (our future kids that will have sprouts of curly hair and tons of energy); a portrait of the stuffed monkey he got me for our first Valentine's Day together; Marty doing a stalefish and me cheering him on; me and Marty as fish going after lures of pancakes and a hamburger, respectively.

Under the Sea

As most adorable and awesome couples do, Iron Martin and I have made a lot of mix CDs for one another. Here is one of the covers I designed for one of the mix CDs I made him. It is just colored pencil sprayed with hairspray so it didn't smear.

Side note: speaking of music, as I post this, I am listening to songs off the new Decemberists album, and they rock hard. Pretty bad a**, actually.